Most of us have never lived through a pandemic like Covid-19 before, but we have heard or learned about them, from the Spanish Flu to more notorious plagues like the Black Death.
The 1918 influenza pandemic was the most pervasive outbreak in recent history. Although there is not universal consensus regarding where the virus originated, it spread worldwide during 1918-1919. It is estimated that about 500 million people or one-third of the world’s population became infected with this virus. The number of deaths was estimated to be at least 50 million worldwide with about 675,000 occurring in the United States. Mortality was high in people younger than 5 years old, 20-40 years old, and 65 years and older. The high mortality in healthy people, including those in the 20-40 year age group, was a unique feature of this pandemic.
The effects of the Spanish Influenza of 1918 were hard-felt in Manhasset. At that time, the Village proper was located in the Valley at the bottom of Spinney Hill. There were a few stores serving the community. They included a post office, a meat store, a Chinese laundry, and Emil Henderson’s grocery store. Emil would take orders at 8:30 am and deliver groceries in the afternoon. In addition to grocery, he provided a number of essential services for the small community. He took children’s shoes to be mended, the letters to be mailed and the laundry to the laundromat. The Post Office occupied half of what used to be Orustens building and a vegetable store occupied the other half. The brick shoe repair stood north of the bridge. To purchase drugs and soda, people had to go to either Port Washington or Great Neck.
On January 25, 1918, two local doctors, C. M. Niesley and L. A. Van Kleeck, had the foresight to visualize the benefit of forming a community health organization for the purpose of hiring and directing a district nurse.
The doctors put forth a proposal at a Manhasset Town meeting which was approved. As a result, the Manhasset Visiting Nurse Service (MVNS) was established.
Miss Eliza (Elsie) Gilbert of Port Washington was employed as the first District Nurse. Her job included watching the children of the town’s three schools in order to monitor the spread of contagious diseases. Miss Gilbert provided nursing care for families in the community by making house calls and setting up clinic hours at the Manhasset Health Center. Her salary was secured for 6 years through the generosity of Mrs. Joseph P. Grace, a committed Manhasset philanthropist who understood the value of preventive health services.
The need of the MVNS became apparent in the fall of 1918, when the nation-wide epidemic of Spanish Influenza engulfed Manhasset. Disease makes no distinction. Rich, as well as poor, were decimated by the illness the same way that Covid-19 has affected our lives. Many families hit by the epidemic found themselves unable to cope with even the day-to-day necessities. Doctors, churches and many private citizens volunteered their help. Extra nurses from other states were hired to assist with the community’s needs.
Several elements are consistent when providing counter measures for influenza like pandemics. Such measures can be phased in, or layered, depending on the severity of the pandemic and local transmission patterns over time. Personal protective measures reserved for influenza like pandemics include quarantine and heightened hygiene. Counter pandemic measures include voluntary home quarantine of exposed household members and use of face masks in community settings; consistent hand hygiene; business, church, and school closures; social distancing as a regular measure of public interaction; the cancelling of mass gatherings and sporting events; and the routine cleaning of frequently touched surfaces with disinfecting agents. Pandemics effectively shut down the economy and disrupt any sense of normalcy of daily life. Milestones such as weddings, graduations, birthday celebrations are all suspended due to dangers of disease contraction in social gatherings.
Marshaling forces against the 1918 pandemic, Miss Gilbert and her committee set up a soup kitchen and made deliveries to families stricken by the influenza. The nurses were there to assist the doctors. Not content to let their patients suffer, they performed light housekeeping duties and cared for those unable to help themselves. It was the enthusiasm and the inspiration of the MVNS that inspired others who in turn helped Manhasset weathered the crisis.