100-Year-Old Treatment Worked for Spanish Flu

As the number of coronavirus cases steadily climbs, it’s hard not to think of another pandemic the nation experienced over 100 years ago:

The 1918 Spanish influenza.

It was the deadliest pandemic of all time, infecting about 500 million worldwide, and killing 50 million.

That’s about the entire population of California and Michigan… combined!

There were two radical actions that flattened the curve and finally put an end to the pandemic.

It’s time we learned from the past and put these actions into practice right now.

The cities that fared the best during the Spanish influenza were those that took swift actions to quarantine the community.

Take St. Louis and Philadelphia, for example.

While St. Louis was quick to close movie theaters, schools, and all public gatherings, Philadelphia continued with business as usual—even allowing a parade that attracted hundreds of thousands of people to continue as planned.

Ultimately, the death rate in St. Louis was just one-eighth that of Philadelphia.

The lesson here is a simple one: Stay home.

But there was another little-known technique the medical professionals employed during the Spanish flu that made a big difference in conquering the pandemic.

And it doesn’t involve a single drug, or spending a single dollar:

Sunshine and fresh air.

During the Spanish flu, those who were treated outdoors recovered better than those treated indoors.

Open air therapy, as it was called, seemed to help prevent patients from dying… and to prevent medical staff from contracting the infection.

Open air therapy was employed to treat sick soldiers and heal infected wounds during World War I, and to treat the common respiratory infection, tuberculosis.

In fact, one Boston hospital reported that open air therapy reduced deaths among hospital patients from 40 percent to 13 percent.

There are plenty of good reasons why open air therapy is so effective:

• Outdoor air is a natural disinfectant.
• Fresh air can kill viruses and harmful germs.
• Sunlight is germicidal and can kill viruses.
• Sunlight kills bacteria that cause infections in hospitals.
• Sunlight helps boost your immune system.

Sixty years ago, scientists discovered that outdoor air contains what they called Open Air Factor, and that it was more harmful to bacteria and viruses than indoor air.

This natural therapy was a common medical practice until antibiotics took over and brought everyone back inside.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t use all the tools modern medicine has to offer to help beat this deadly virus.

But adding in simple treatments like these could make them even more effective.