A research group from Tohoku University analyzed Japanese medical industry journals published 100 years ago during the time of the "Spanish Flu," which killed tens of millions of people around the world, and revealed that the medical community at the time may not have been interested in the Spanish Flu until it exploded in Japan.
Between 1918 and 1920, the Spanish Flu became a global pandemic, killing tens of millions of people around the world. The research group analyzed 3,856 articles published during this period in the medical industry magazine Nihon no Ikai (held at the Tohoku University Medical Library), and clarified the following two points:
As the pandemic spread worldwide from March 1918 onwards, infections also spread in Japan, mainly in urban areas and military garrisons, but articles about the Spanish flu epidemic were not published until the autumn of 3, when an outbreak of infection occurred in Japan. This suggests that the Japanese medical community may not have been interested in the Spanish flu in the early stages of the epidemic.
In addition, during the Taisho period, when viruses had not yet been identified or visualized, Nihon no Ikai supported the influenza virus theory presented by the Kitasato Institute as the causative agent of the Spanish flu. This was likely influenced by the political conflict between the Kitasato Institute and the National Institute of Infectious Diseases of Tokyo Imperial University, as well as the school of thought to which Nihon no Ikai belonged.
During the Spanish Flu epidemic in Japan, people basically took the same rational measures as today, such as wearing masks and keeping a distance from infected people. However, in a situation where the pathogen could not be identified, it became clear that factors other than science influenced the discussion on the pathogen. The results of this research were produced by members of the "Spanish Flu Collaborative Study Group on Humanities and Sciences," which has been held at the International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University.
