1957–1958 influenza pandemic
[3][4][11][12] Observers within China noted an epidemic beginning in the third week of February in western Guizhou, between its capital Guiyang and the city of Qujing in neighbouring Yunnan province.
[22] The only National Influenza Center reporting data to the World Health Organization for the southeast-Asian region in 1957 was located in Singapore,[23] and thus the country was the first to notify the WHO on 4 May about an extensive outbreak of the flu which "appeared to have been introduced from Hong Kong".
Given that schools were on holiday and the agricultural population was in the fields at this time, epidemic influenza was observed only in the larger cities and among factory workers, military units, and other concentrated communities during August and September.
Between June and August, sporadic cases occurred as a result of laboratory infection, a visit to an airfield, and introductions from Indonesia, Turkey, England, and Rome and the Near East.
[55] During the week ending 24 August, the first reports indicating involvement of the general population were received, starting with an outbreak among schoolchildren in Colne that affected teachers and parents as well.
The epidemic peaked in the latter half of October and then began to decrease in early November before falling back to unusual interepidemic levels in December, though morbidity remained slightly elevated during the first four months of 1958.
This involved the mass publication of placards, posters, and pamphlets; systematic radio and television programs; the printing of articles on the disease in the press; and the showing of films on the topic, in addition to other similar measures.
[65] The notion that an influenza pandemic was developing in the Far East first occurred to American microbiologist Maurice Hilleman, who was alarmed by pictures of those affected by the virus in Hong Kong that were published in The New York Times, on 17 April 1957.
[68] The following day, the director of the National Institutes of Health, James A. Shannon, having consulted with CDC Director Robert J. Anderson, submitted a memo that recommended, among other items, that the monovalent pandemic vaccine needed for the Department of Defense be licensed, that state epidemiologists be alerted to watch for outbreaks of influenza-like illness, that EIS officers immediately investigate any reported outbreak, and that "the role of influenza vaccine as a public health measure be carefully studied...".
[68] On 19 July, PHS officials met with the Undersecretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to discuss the plans of the Service and other cooperating parties to respond to the expected epidemic and to take advantage of research opportunities afforded by the situation.
[68] At the beginning of August, PHS gave the go-ahead to the press to initiate its public health education campaign,[68] and Burney met with journalists to warn of "the very definite probability" of a widespread epidemic in the fall or winter.
[78] It provided a total of $800,000 in additional PHS funds to go towards the production and distribution of tests, surveillance and laboratory services, data collection and dissemination, and public health education.
[68] The Association of State and Territorial Health Officers convened in Bethesda, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., beginning on 27 August for a two-day special meeting to discuss the pandemic response.
[83][84] Vice President Richard Nixon was the guest of honor at the pageant, the Valley Forge Story, and country music singer Jimmy Dean provided entertainment.
[86][73] Nonetheless, in the days following the Jamboree, a number of outbreaks appeared among Scout groups returning from the event, and cases were subsequently reported from various states including Louisiana, Connecticut, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Virginia, Wyoming, Montana, and Texas.
[90] Having involved the West Coast, as well as Louisiana and Mississippi, over the summer, followed by, in rapid succession, the highly populated areas in the East in early September and New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona around the same time, influenza then appeared to progress toward the central and northern parts of the country in October.
[81] Excess mortality began to rise in the West South Central division in early October and soon rose across the entire country, with New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania seeing the greatest relative increase.
[94] He shared the findings of the U.S. National Health Survey, which found that, between 1 July and 1 December 1957, over 80 million Americans — or about half the country — suffered from upper respiratory illness so severe that they had to spend one or more days in bed.
It concluded that "the WHO influenza programme fulfilled the major task allotted to it", which allowed "many parts of the world to organize health services to meet the threat and for some countries to attempt to protect priority groups by vaccination".
[68] After reading of the epidemic underway in Hong Kong, Maurice Hilleman immediately sent for samples of the virus from patients in the Far East,[66] which were collected in late April 1957 and received at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research before the middle of May.
It was also clear then that the quantities of vaccine necessary for large-scale inoculation would not be ready until after the middle of August, but if the epidemic held off until the fall and winter, as was considered likely, it would be possible protect a significant part of the population.
[66] In the latter half of June, following a series of outbreaks of the novel virus aboard naval vessels docked on the East Coast,[80] the Department of Defense provided a significant stimulus to commercial production by placing an order for 2,650,000 ml of monovalent vaccine.
It was the opinion of the Office of the Surgeon General, upon review of studies thus far reported, that 1 cc (cubic centimeter) of monovalent vaccine, with a strength of 200 CCA units, would be "the most effective and practical dosage".
[141] On 12 August, Burney sent individual letters to each of the manufacturers requesting their cooperation with PHS in a "voluntary system of equitable interstate allocations" of the pandemic vaccine while supplies remained limited.
[143] Nonetheless, Time reported that National Drug Co. and Lederle Laboratories had sent their initial doses to companies across the country, leaving it to them to distribute the shots, and that indeed individual doctors had begun vaccinating "favored patients".
[149] That same week, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officers convened in Bethesda, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., beginning on 27 August for a two-day special meeting to discuss the pandemic response.
"[166] On 24 September, PHS announced that it had requested, more specifically, that the vaccine manufacturers fill orders in accordance with state and local priority recommendations, in addition to the population-based system of allocation.
Hayward's assistant, John S. Myers, suggested two items to improve the allocation policy—"clearcut guidance" on this issue from PHS and specification as to whether federal agencies could use vaccine funding for those other than essential workers—noting that doing so could well save money on sick leave.
[171] With flu cases having peaked, and excess mortality at this point increasing, in the latter half of October, PHS announced the development of a more "potent" vaccine to be available by the end of November.
Parke, Davis & Co. expressed a similar sentiment, noting that the high levels of respiratory illness stimulated a significant demand for the company's other products, such as cough medicine and antibiotics.
