Medicinal, pharmacists’ “sugar” comes by dropper due to transport shortage. As the Great War draws to a close, the Corsicans must fight a new fight against a deadly disease, the Spanish flu
November 1918. The war draws to a close, but the gloomy litany of the “dead on the field of honor” continues to mourn Corsica, already so badly hit. The population of the island lacks everything. The deputy Adolphe Landry underlines the urgent need to guarantee “with fast services the transport of passengers between Nice and the ports of the island, and the transport of goods on goods between Marseilles and Corsica”. The inadequacy of rotations generates a shortage of supplies which is particularly dramatic when it comes to medicines. Because a new scourge has been added to the terrible ordeal of war, an epidemic of Spanish flu which affects organizations weakened by deprivation, particularly affecting the rural environment. The first cases were reported in the summer of 1918, in Sartène, Levie, the most important outbreak being in Corte, where the first deaths were counted, initially attributed to a return of cholera.
After four years of fighting, a glimmer of hope, the prospect of victory is in the air. During the meeting of the municipal council of Bastia on 7 October, the first deputy Lucien Dapelo, much applauded, addressed “the homage of our deepest gratitude to the Government and to its President, Mr. Georges Clemenceau who, still in the furnace, has inexorably pursues the conduct of war, regenerates spirits and organizes the final victory”.
But in the immediate future, Corsica is faced with an insidious disease that mobilizes public authorities, as well as all health professionals, doctors and pharmacists. However, the disorganization of transport between Corsica and the mainland interrupts the treatment of the disease which requires the use of “pharmacists’ sugar”, a product different from domestic sugar and whose availability is running out. In Ajaccio, on 17 October, a pharmacy had to close due to a lack of sugar. Allain, prefect of Corsica, keeps public opinion informed of the situation through the press: “Since the flu raged in Ajaccio, more than four hundred kilos of sugar have been distributed in the city to sick families upon presentation of doctor’s certificates, 465 kg of sugar were sent to the most affected municipalities in the arrondissement, but the prefect invites doctors to be far-sighted and the beneficiary families to make “all efforts to save as much as possible the ration given to them”.
The concerned population seeks explanations for this relentless and contagious new evil. In most cases, the Spanish flu – so called because Spain is the first country to have officially recognized it – proves fatal for people already debilitated by already established diseases such as tuberculosis or bronchopneumonia. The medical profession is formal. It is the failure to observe the “most elementary measures of hygiene and cleanliness” which favors the spread of evil.
Cesspools in the courtyards of buildings and overwhelmed sanitary facilities
Edifying in this regard, the report of the major doctor Monard on the irresponsible attitude of some: “In a small village in Corsica, a man dies of influenza, but it is foreseen that a close relative will bury him. When he arrives, the coffin is opened and the whole family rushes to kiss him. Nine people will thus contract a deadly flu. The funeral takes place on the same day. In the church where the funeral ceremony took place, the faithful go en masse to attend the religious functions. Two or three days later, 600 people out of a population of 1,100 contract pneumonia. Toll: 54 dead. Recalling the miasmatic theory, the rumor would have it that the putrid emanations that poisoned the city were released along the route of the funeral procession. » (1)
The lack of hygiene is particularly visible in the courtyards of the buildings and in certain alleys transformed into sewers by the domestic waste that accumulates there in nauseating layers. The health services are overwhelmed, because in addition to the urgent measures to be put in place, they have to do educational work for populations that are not very sensitive to the injunctions of scientists.
However, a decree of 1903 obliges doctors to declare cases of flu in the department of Corsica, a declaration which entails immediate prophylactic measures that everyone is required to respect under pain of persecution. Namely: complete isolation of the patient, disinfection of his clothes and objects he has touched, as well as the premises after recovery or death, in order to avoid any contagion.
Faced with the extent of the epidemic, the health commissions meet without hesitation and military doctors come to support civilian doctors. But the 1903 decree relating to public health remains inoperative, if no effort is made in matters of hygiene, and if certain bad habits are not corrected. An article in “Colombo” illustrates the extent of the phenomenon and the task to be fulfilled: “Never leave waste in the courtyards and free yourself from this terrible habit of throwing anything out of the window. »
However, after five years, these deplorable habits continue, as evidenced by the Bulletin of the Hygiene Office of Bastia, reporting 581 notices of obligation to observe health regulations, addressed to the inhabitants for the year 1923 alone. ! The report reads: “Too often we have come up against the indolence and above all the bad will of many owners, we have had to take action against 37 of them who have stubbornly ignored our bets in repeated warnings. The same report does not spare the municipal services, recommending a complete overhaul of the cleaning service with new specifications.
The Spanish flu one day disappeared as mysteriously as it had arrived.
Four years of war and an epidemic dealt a mortal blow to Corsica’s economy and demography. At an epidemic level, “for the whole island there will be 1,500 dead. » (2)
(1) Peter Darmond. A tragedy within a tragedy. The Spanish flu in France. Perseus. (2) Jean-Raphaël Cervoni. Historical dictionary of Corsica. Albian.
