{"id":21004,"date":"2021-04-22T11:30:41","date_gmt":"2021-04-22T15:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/?p=21004"},"modified":"2024-11-13T14:28:17","modified_gmt":"2024-11-13T19:28:17","slug":"probably-of-great-value-potentially-masks-in-the-us-military-during-the-1918-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2021\/04\/22\/probably-of-great-value-potentially-masks-in-the-us-military-during-the-1918-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cProbably of Great Value Potentially\u201d: Masks in the US Military during the 1918 Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Circulating Now welcomes guest bloggers E. Thomas Ewing, Jessica Brabble, Ariel Ludwig, Linsey C. Marr, Katherine Randall to discuss their historical research around the reality of how masks were actually used in the military in 1918 and how their effectiveness was evaluated in contemporary reports.
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During the 1918 influenza epidemic, the US military responded to infectious disease outbreaks with preventive or containment measures including isolation wards, masks<\/a>, improved sanitation, health checks, and quarantine requirements. The use of masks was documented in photographs of patients, nurses, and doctors and the effectiveness of masks was evaluated in studies published after war.<\/p>\n

\"Seven<\/a>
U.S. Army. Base Hospital No. 82, Toul, France: Pneumonia ward, ca. 1918
National Library of Medicine #101447471<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A photograph from Base Hospital No. 82<\/a>, Toul, France, shows two women and four men wearing masks (Illustration 1). Although undated, the photograph was likely from October 1918, when this hospital treated more than five hundred patients with acute respiratory infections. A closer look at the photograph, however, reveals that all of the masks were worn incorrectly, as noses were not fully covered. Photographs like these provide evidence of the differences between theory and practice and help us better understand how the imperfect implementation of masks as a public health measure made judging their effectiveness after the fact difficult.<\/p>\n

In the influenza ward at Base Hospital No. 88<\/a>, seven patients stand next to their beds, yet not one is wearing a mask. In the pneumonia ward at Base Hospital No. 88<\/a>, nine patients and one nurse are clearly not wearing masks (Illustration 2) In the influenza ward at Camp Hospital No. 24<\/a>, six patients and one nurse are not wearing masks (Illustration 3). In fact, fully masked patients or medical staff appear in relatively few of the photographs of army hospitals. A photograph of the pneumonia ward at Camp Hospital No. 24<\/a> is unusual in showing one patient and two nurses wearing masks fully covering their noses and mouths.<\/p>\n