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In December 2019 the news about a small cluster of pneumonia-like cases with an unknown cause linked to a seafood market in Wuhan was first reported. The new disease, later named Covid-19, became officially known as a pandemic that would shut down the global economy, force populations in numerous countries to stay at home and hospitalise world leaders and millions of ordinary people.

As we enter the second year of the pandemic it is worth reminding ourselves of how viruses have changed the world throughout the 20th Century. We begin with the so-called Spanish flu of 1918–1920, the closest parallel and ancestor to the Coronavirus.

Spanish Flu

In March 1918 reports from Spanish journalists of a deadly strain of the influenza virus, subsequently known as ‘Spanish Flu’ were broadcast across the world. The disease spread rapidly, exacerbated by infected soldiers moving from one camp to another during the last months of the First World War. The outbreak was quickly declared a pandemic.

´óÏó´«Ã½ Television and Radio have commissioned several dramas and documentaries about the Spanish flu over the years, including the Radio 4 documentary ‘The Great Flu Pandemic’ in 1970.

Armistice and Influenza

Sixty years after the end of the First World War, the ´óÏó´«Ã½ called for members of the public to write in with their experiences of Armistice Day on 11 November 1918. The influenza epidemic had been circulating for 8 months by this time.

In her letter to the ´óÏó´«Ã½, an auxiliary nurse recalled her experiences of the influenza virus, ‘I felt so ill that when the sirens went off… I didn’t care’. The pandemic lasted for 2 years and claimed the lives of over 50 million people worldwide. 

Inoculations

The ´óÏó´«Ã½ introduced an inoculation programme for its staff in response to seasonal flu in the 1930s, under the guidance of Sir Alexander Fleming. The uptake for inoculations by staff was low, and the ´óÏó´«Ã½ wrote to Fleming in an attempt to find ways of increasing vaccination numbers.

Tuberculosis

During the Second World War there were a number of infectious diseases in circulation in the general population. The Ministry of Health were particularly concerned about the increase in cases of tuberculosis.

In a Home Service News Bulletin in 1942, the ´óÏó´«Ã½ reported that these concerns were due to black-outs and overcrowding during wartime conditions. From Home News Bulletins, 30th June 1942.

Foot and Mouth Disease

In 1967 the United Kingdom experienced a major epidemic of Foot and Mouth Disease, which spread rapidly among livestock in Shropshire and the North West of England. Animals were quarantined, and Veterinary Officers controlled the movement of people in and out of infected areas.

Frank Gillard, Director of Radio for the ´óÏó´«Ã½ circulated advice from the Ministry of Agriculture to all ´óÏó´«Ã½ Producers, advising of the strict disinfectant precautions staff should take when working in infected areas.

Polio

The first effective vaccine against polio was introduced in 1952 and mass public vaccination programmes were rolled out globally. However the disease remained a threat in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1976, the ´óÏó´«Ã½ broadcast the programme ‘Inside Medicine’ and interviewed medical experts about their studies into the disease.

Areas of study included housing conditions, levels of immunity in hospital patients and the effects of the disease within immigrant groups.

AIDS

In the aftermath of the ‘Don’t Die of Ignorance’ public health campaign in Britain which aimed to raise awareness about AIDS, the ´óÏó´«Ã½, ITV and Channel 4 launched a joint campaign in 1987.

It promoted continuing education about sexually transmitted diseases for people of all ages, including school children, and special programmes were broadcast across each channel including ‘Panorama’, ‘Open Air’, ‘Heart of the Matter’. The campaign was the forerunner for the introduction of the EastEnders storyline in 1990, where Mark Fowler was diagnosed with HIV.

AIDS campaign for Schools

In the late 1980s programmes about HIV and AIDS were also included in broadcasts for schools. A special programme about AIDS was created as part of the ‘Scene’ series in 1987, which encouraged children to think about safe sex and responsibility in their relationships.

Emerging Viruses

The ´óÏó´«Ã½â€™s long-running Science and Features programme ‘Horizon’ has produced a number of documentaries about infectious diseases, including ‘Epidemic’ (1973), ‘AIDS: A strange and deadly virus’ (1986), ‘Emerging Viruses’ (1991) and ‘Pandemic’ (1999).

Horizon published the transcript of its ‘Emerging Viruses’ programme where leading experts offered their, sometimes highly prescient, views about future epidemics - ‘we can be quite certain that there will be new epidemics. We’re not very well prepared to deal with them.’ From PUBS B 2443.

COVID-19

In late 2019 reports of a mystery virus began emerging from Wuhan province in China . By early 2020 the virus had spread throughout the World. Millions of people were hospitalised. Countries went into lockdown – streets emptied; schools and businesses closed; people stayed at home.