One of the few positives coming out of a time like this is all of the work being created by artists who find themselves in isolation. When a creative is allotted solitude and time to create, only good things happen. One such artist who’s been productive with his time indoors is Radcliff Music, whose new single, “Quarantine Bars,” sees the veteran Chicago spitter at the top of his game.

The instrumental is incredibly smooth. The humming synth chords are pleasant, making their presence known without overstaying their welcome. The trap percussion sets a firm pace, balancing out the quieter instrumental elements quite nicely.

Radcliff brings his usual dose of hard-hitting lyrical honesty. His easygoing demeanor adds a lot of depth to the heavy subject matter he brings to the table, reminding his peers that he can destroy anyone with ease. Just because the world is effectively at a standstill does not mean that Radcliff is sleeping on his own craft.

“Quarantine Bars” is yet another gem from an artist who’s been at it for years. Radcliff Music has been around the block a few times within the Chicago scene, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t willing to fuck up younger artists on the mic if he has to. Not that anyone is likely to challenge him anytime soon, but consider “Quarantine Bars” a clear warning shot — a sign that he is not to be messed with.

“Quarantine Bars” is now available on Soundcloud. Stream it here: https://soundcloud.com/radcliffmusic/quarantine-bars

Follow Radcliff Music on Instagram @lowliferaps

The criteria for List #1: Toys/objects that do encourage exploration

Your goal is to keep the child active, so get a toy or object that can be played with in many ways. This encourages the child to get creative with the toy or object.

If you can’t quickly name many things a child could do with the toy or object, it’s doesn’t belong on this list. Consider the things I included in this list and what can be done with them:

Cotton handkerchief/ bandana– If the handkerchief (or bandana) is not cotton it is a choking hazard – Can be used to play peek-a-boo with a stuffed animal, hide-and-seek with objects, as a blanket for dolly, can sway with while dancing around, or blown into the air above the head.

Toy cars  – Can be driven around in races, up ramps of blocks (older toddlers) or used to give an object a ride. Exploration happens as she tests how the speed varies on a flat surface (like one of the books) or on a ramp or on the blanket. I suggest cars of various shapes and colors for both girls and boys.

Blocks (or boxes) – A child can use imagination to build towers, houses, a road for the toy car, and many other things. They can be sorted, or a child can use a block in imaginary play with a stuffed animal: maybe it’s a desk, maybe it’s a chair.

Dolls – Can be snuggled, cared for, be spoken with (even if your child is pre-verbal), can interact with another doll, or can be a non-judgmental audience for the child.

Plastic Bowls/ Recyclables  – Can be balanced on a foot, used to sort things, be part of pretend eating, be a hat, be used to feed a doll, or can be used for stacking.

List # 2: Toys that do NOT encourage exploration for ages 1-3

These toys perform the activity and leave your child with few options. Therefore, their attractiveness as playthings ends quickly. Consider what your child can do with these objects:

Jack-in-the-box -pop it a few times, sit on it and break it, and out of frustration out of lack of options, hit a sibling.

Toys that you push on and something appears -pop it up, also good for hitting a sister or brother.

Toys with prerecorded messages – (such as electronic dolls/figures)– play with it a few times, activating every sound, annoy the person working.

Spinning tops -spin it if you can, maybe enjoy the colors, but limited interest, become a potential problem with pointy ends finding eyeballs.

Final Thoughts

So, some final thoughts and reminders:

As I stated in the beginning, make sure the child(ren) is within eyesight, but remember that your role has shifted. You are no longer an entertainer of a noisy child, now you are an onlooker of a satisfied child who is exploring.

Busy, truly engaged children are not bothersome and don’t need to be entertained. Passive toys are better for this purpose, as they draw out children’s imagination and thus stay interesting longer. Toys with lots of bells and whistles will get a child’s attention at first, but then become tiresome.

And remember, more is not necessarily better. My first year teaching I had 10 toddlers, so I put out 10 pretend grocery carts. OY, hectic.

There are many more developmentally beneficial objects/toys you can find, but I’ve written too much, and the blog police might get me. If the toilet paper police don’t get me first!

I  plan to continue blogging more about this topic ASAP. I will do also do older age groups. Let me hear your questions and concerns.

SELF-ISOLATION, DAY 10

Or: RISKY LIVING IN A HIGH RISK GROUP!

Hello my friends and relatives, and anyone who accidentally reads this on my blog, DocRambo. I am sorry if this is kind of boring. I was thinking earlier today that the title I arbitrarily, and kind of logically chose, “Self-Isolation,” would not win a Pulitzer Prize. Not even the Nobel Prize in Literature. Maybe my essay yesterday, Day 9, would have sounded more interesting if I had titled it “Screwing Geese.” It might have gone viral. I might have received phone calls from publishers or movie companies. At least You Tube. Oh God, I think I am getting punchy.

My intention was to start writing earlier. But I am easily distracted. My friend who has the chronic illness; I mentioned her; needed me to run an errand for her. She is on strict isolation and I used to visit her at least once a week and we would eat soup together or sometimes watch TV. So I went by, picked up a package for her to bring to her safe deposit box at the bank. That is more complicated now, which is good. I made an appt by phone, then went to the bank and had to be let in. I touched almost nothing. At her house I just talked from the doorway, into her house, so we did not get close. She cannot afford to catch the virus. Then I picked up some soup from another friend who made a big pot and gave me 3 containers of it. I am doing fine for food. Just that fruits and vegetables don’t last too long. All together I am fine in spite of my risky age-group; living alone with my dog is ok. Just the work bothers me a bit. But someone has to work in the grocery stores. I thanked the mail delivery man from Post Office for coming to work anyway. Said thanks. What about garbage truck drivers? What would you do if no one picked up your garbage? Ever think of that? Maybe put it in your neighbor’s yard. No, my friends are not like that; just a thought.

So, it is late in the day and I have my second wind. Getting serious for a moment, our state and local politicians in Illinois are doing well. It seems that Governor Pritzker is doing all he can to meet the challenge, and Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago really is showing her mettle. Her news conference today was no-holds barred and she said what needed to be said. So, people in groups have been cavorting and enjoying life in groups, which scientists, like women and men who spend years studying to help their fellow humans, instead of partying every weekend, yeah, so really smart people have been telling us SHELTER IN PLACE!! Like really! You see China, you see Italy. Philadelphia, 1918, decided, even though news of the flu pandemic was out, they decided to go ahead and have their parade, full of soldiers, some with the flu virus. Resulted in thousands of deaths. OK, maybe they did not understand the virus that well. Evidently St. Louis was more cautious and had a much better outcome. So some people, Governor Cuomo, Governor Pritzger, our Mayor Lightfoot, are batting 1000 in dealing with a situation that is not their fault. Some government officials not so much. As I have said I am not trying to turn this into a political debate, which is not to say I do not have opinions, or that everyone in government is doing what they should. We are lucky we do have some intelligent and principled professionals like Dr Fauci, to name just one, who knock it out of the park whenever he opens his mouth. By the way (btw to you youngsters), what’s with my baseball analogies? I must be American or something, but I flunked Little League. Seriously. I could never hit a ball with a stick. None of those sports.

Anyway, I had some thoughts today about why people, some, or many, refuse to listen to experts, or refuse to believe that things are really bad. Although I studied for many years, and I read a lot, like, books, of course I don’t know. But, I have opinions. Part of why we act dumb may be our Wild West mentality. Whereby, not all of the USA was the Wild West. But there is some prevalence, not everyone, a prevalence of an attitude that “I can do anything I want, I’m an American!” We are a great big country, almost like an island, a continent for ourselves, so we may feel isolated or insulated, from the rest of the world. But… guess what folks? Times have changed and we really do have to live together. Take responsibility for each other. We can’t just have shoot-outs on Main St. Which reminds me that I have read that gun and ammo stores have  BOOMING sales! Wow, that did it. Some people will maybe send me death threats. Are you planning on killing your neighbor if he or she tries to steal your food or toilet paper? I’m serious. Maybe this goes further back than the frontier days to the cave men. Perhaps they needed to be so protective of their families and tribes because there were so many dangers. And we just have not gotten over it yet. I do not hate people. At least not many. I am only human. But, my God we have to pull together. This is a very minor thing, but I work in a suburb. In Chicago, I believe plastic bags were banned. Some whole countries have done this, in an effort to help the environment. Anyway, whenever I have to help out with bagging, we ask “paper or plastic?” of the customer at the cash register. There is no unified answer. Anyone who reads about the environment at all knows that plastic is a problem. Some want paper, some plastic, and some bring their reusable bags, which I appreciate and generally thank people for doing. One time the man answered “ plastic is fine. I don’t want to save the environment.” Now…I do think we should all try to do just that. No one person can save it, but each in our own way, WE SHOULD TRY TO SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT.” I don’t want to” should not be one of the answers! Well, I am just a low-wage dufus and he was a customer so I did not respond at all. He was just one guy. Don’t know his name so he can’t sue me anyway.

So, I am reaching my ending for the day. I need to finish putting the soup away and doing my dishes, take a shower, do a little meditation, and get ready for tomorrow. No one I know has died from the COVID-19. I do not want anyone to do that, but, many people will die. Then, our society will return to some new kind of normal. But, why cannot we understand that “Normal” should be that we are aware of each other, that the Earth is really a very small planet in an incredibly vast Universe, we need to take care of it and each other!  Please.

Be safe, stay well, believe in the higher powers. We can do this.

David, March 26, 2020

(I added the sub-title after I finished).

Since I love Chicago history so much and we can learn so much about our current and future condition from studying the past, I thought it would be interesting to do a comparison of the 1918 worldwide influenza pandemic and our current CoVid-19 pandemic through the Chicago looking glass.

To be fair, a true side by side comparison is difficult because we are talking about two different diseases and 102 years of separation but there are still a great many similarities and luckily a great many differences.

We have to keep in mind that at the time of the 1918 pandemic the term virus was not even in use.  The medical community referred to the disease as the “Influenza Germ” known as Pfeiffer’s Bacillus.  There were no antibiotics to treat secondary pneumonia infections because penicillin was not discovered until 1928.  There were no anti-viral drugs to slow it down and no ventilators so doctors were limited to supportive treatments.

Population

Curiously, the population of Chicago today is virtually the same as it was 102 years ago.  Chicago currently has a population of 2.7 million which is what it was in 1918.  The population of the United States as a whole was about 103 million which is about 1/3 of what it is today.

The Start and Spread of both Diseases

1918

The first mention of the 1918 flu in the U.S. was in the spring of 1918 within the military.  There is some disagreement among scholars because the flu was so mild.   The flu that hit in the fall (whether mutated or new) in the U.S. was much deadlier.  The world was at war and the censoring of information coming from other countries made it nearly impossible to determine the geographic start of the virus but the first reports came out of Spain since they were neutral during the war and it thus became known as the “Spanish Flu”.

The first accounts I could find in newspapers of the time referred to a steamer from France being quarantined at the port of New York with 25 people suspected of having the “Spanish Influenza”.  The article came out on September 11^th so the steamer had more than likely docked a few days before then.

The first case in the vicinity of Chicago was at Great Lakes Naval Base.  It was reported that the epidemic started on September 9^th and by September 23^rd there were 7,000 cases and 100 deaths at the Naval Base.

Chicago Tribune, September 16, 1918

In 1918 the worldwide spread was caused mainly by the thousands of soldiers moving by ship from place to place.

2020

The first patient to present in the U.S. with what is now called CoVid-19 was a 35-year-old male in Snohomish County, Washington on January 19, 2020.

The first person in the Chicago area was discovered almost simultaneously due to the fact that this Chicago resident had returned from Wuhan, China (The supposed geographic start of the virus) on January 13^th.  She and her husband have since made a full recovery.

One would assume, given the ease of travel internationally as compared to 1918 that the geographic spread of the virus would seem almost instantaneous.  In researching both eras the disease seemed to have spread extremely rapidly and almost simultaneously in different geographic regions.

Similarities in Reaction and Recommendations

Recommendations

While our medical knowledge today is well beyond that of 1918 the initial reactions and recommendations were eerily similar even with 100 years of distance.

Some of the recommendations in 1918 seem very familiar

• Avoid crowded areas like movie theaters and trains.
• Avoid people who are sick.
• Isolate yourself if you feel ill.
• Wash your hands frequently

Some may not seem all that familiar and some even humorous by today’s standards.

• Make sure to take laxatives and keep the bowels moving freely.
• Avoid getting your feet wet.
• Sleep with the windows open at night.
• Keep children warm and dry at all times.
• Eat eggs and milk every four hours.
• Wear a gauze mask and boil it often.
• Cough into a handkerchief and burn it.
• Get as much sunlight as possible (actually, sunlight tends to kill viruses so maybe not such a bad idea)

Once both the 1918 and 2020 viruses started to spread, the governments of both time periods enacted ordinances that closed non-essential businesses and large gatherings and actually threatened arrest of those who would violate the orders.

Misinformation and rumor

Human psychology really has not changed much in 100 years and probably for much longer than that.   Just as in today’s viral crisis, the people of 1918 also had to contend with misinformation, rumor and bogus cures.

Listerine advertised to prevent the flu, The Pantagraph, October 18, 1918.

It is somewhat human nature to want to cling to whatever hope we can.  We have to be cautious, however, and make sure that the “cure” is backed up by science and is not worse than the disease itself.

In 2020 we have seen things appear on social media such as the rumor that snorting cocaine and bleach can cure the coronavirus and we have even seen people die from eating fish tank cleaner because they recognized an ingredient in the cleaner that sounded similar to a malaria treatment that has been mentioned as showing promise as a possible therapeutic for CoVid-19. (chloroquine)

During the 1918 virus,  many “patent medicines” were touting their ability to cure the flu.  This resulted in many sales and few positive results.  It wasn’t as if the government didn’t warn people back then.  They did.  Unfortunately,  panic and desperation can cause people to act in desperate ways.

Chicago doctors in 1918 started prescribing oranges as a cure. The prescriptions caused the price of oranges to skyrocket to .60 cents per pound. (huge by 1918 standards)

It was later learned (in January, 1919) that Chicago physicians had written over 400,000 prescriptions for medication for the flu with 25% or roughly 100,000 prescriptions for opium, morphine, codeine, heroin, and cocaine.

Vick’s Vapo-Rub, that many of us remember being slathered with as kids, touted its ability to help with the flu as well as Listerine.

There were car dealers that claimed their cars contained the cure for the flu because they brought your spirits up.

Sulzer’s Bran Bread was advertising that it could help with the flu by keeping your intestines clear of waste matter.

Kolynos Dental Cream out of New Haven CT claimed that it stood sentry at your mouth preventing the entrance of the flu and that the country of Spain had tripled its demand for their product.

However, The 1918 Darwin award goes to French Lick Springs Hotel Co. in French Lick, Indiana that advertised during the height of the flu in Chicago for people who had the flu to get a room at their hotel where they could recuperate in luxury!  Wonder how that worked out for them?

French Lick Hotel advertises for Spanish Flu Victims, Chicago Tribune, October 30, 1918

The Deadly Differences

While we have been dealing with coronaviruses for some time, we are still learning more every day about this new coronavirus.

According to the CDC, 95% of those exposed to CoVid-19 have an incubation period of roughly 5 days although 1% can have an incubation period of two weeks. (Hence the two-week quarantine recommendations) with symptoms coming on slowly.  A March 10^th investigation by the American College of Physicians agrees. 

Most cases of flu, including the 1918 flu, have an incubation on average between 2 to 4 days with intense symptoms coming on very quickly.

We have the luxury of 100 years of hindsight with the 1918 flu.

The 1918 influenza was extremely deadly.  Estimates of lethality worldwide are somewhere around 2.5 to upwards of 10%.  That means that of the people infected 2.5% to 10% died of the disease.  Most people died within four days of contracting the 1918 flu with quite a few dying the same day that symptoms showed up.  There were many reports of people waking up more or less healthy and dying the same day.

It was also different in that your average flu is worse for the very young and the very old.  The 1918 flu was actually deadlier for those between the ages of 20 and 35!  The reason for this is that the 1918 flu caused such an extreme immune response in those with healthy immune systems that it flooded the lungs.  People who had healthy immune systems literally drowned in their own mucous.  Victims would cough up a blood-stained foam from their lungs and lack of oxygen would turn their faces and hands blue earning it the nickname, “The Blue Death”.

October 1918 was the single deadliest month of all in Chicago.  Roughly 6,700 Chicagoans died in the month of October alone!  The estimates of death in the two months of October and November of 1918 was over 10,000.  Some of the speculations are because death certificates didn’t usually state that the cause was Spanish Flu.  The cause of death was listed usually as pneumonia or bronchial pneumonia.

Chicago had over 625,000 cases from September through November of 1918 which was about 25% of its total population.  Ten thousand deaths during that period would put the lethality rate for Chicago at roughly 6.25%

Historically the average influenza death rate is about .1% and an average of 8% of the population is affected.  Of course, this is taking into consideration the fact that we also have vaccines for the flu.

Right now the numbers on CoVid-19 vary greatly because we are still in the midst of the pandemic and actual statistics will need time to shake out.  These numbers will be different based on age group, geography, and other factors.  Most medical experts agree that CoVid-19 will end up being a more lethal disease than your average flu but many are anticipating a final number somewhere around .2% compared to .1% with the flu but again these numbers are still being compiled.

One thing that could hurt our medical system is that while people generally recover fairly quickly or die fairly quickly from influenza the length of time of recovery with CoVid-19 can be quite a bit longer which results in longer hospital stays and less turnaround which is a big reason that the country is trying to flatten the curve as to try not to overwhelm our medical systems.

There is some consolation if we look at CoVid-19 numbers from the perspective of 2019 – 2020 seasonal flu numbers as compiled by the CDC.

According to the most recent estimates as of the date of this article, there have been between 38 million to 54 million cases of the flu, 18 million to 26 million flu medical visits, 400,000 to 730,000 flu hospitalizations, and 24,000 to 62,000 influenza deaths.

If there is something positive to say at this point (albeit the jury is still out) the current numbers after roughly 10 weeks or approximately 2.5 months of dealing with the onset of U.S. cases the number of cases and deaths are still relatively low as compared with the seasonal flu and if we continue to listen to the medical professionals we may have gotten ahead of it.   As of the date of this article, the number of total U.S. confirmed cases is 85,356 with 1,246 deaths.  (Let’s keep our fingers crossed that this article ages well.)

You can see the daily totals on the CDC’s website here.

Why was this 1918 influenza so much more deadly than others?

The research conducted to come up with this answer is so fascinating and yet terrifying at the same time.  I could not do it justice so you can read the whole story on the CDC’s website here.

In a nutshell, researchers brought the old 1918 flu back to life using frozen samples of tissue from victims.  They recreated the pandemic using mice in a secure facility at the CDC.  The injected some mice with the 1918 flu and others with various other strains of flu.

The researchers found that the 1918 flu went directly and aggressively to the victim’s lungs.  In fact after fours day of infection they found that the amount of virus in the lungs of the mice exposed to the 1918 flu was 39,000 times that of those infected with other strains of the flu!   That is not a typo.  39,000 times!

How did it all come to an end?

 In 1918 Chicago the flu epidemic came in quickly and violently and left just as quickly.  The first case was reported in Great Lakes on September 9^th.  The peak of infections took place toward the end of October and early November.   Levels of disease returned to baseline by the end of November.  From beginning to relative end was about a 3 month period.

One thing that I found very interesting about the treatment of the sick today was something that was touched upon by our leaders in this crisis.  Currently, they are using antibody-rich blood plasma from CoVid-19 survivors in hopes that the antibodies will help fight off the virus.

In 1918 they did almost the same thing.  They didn’t call it plasma but rather a serum made from the blood of Spanish Flu survivors.  I don’t know if this was plasma or direct transfusion but there were personal ads run in the newspapers looking for donors.

Personal Ad for blood of recovered flu victims, Chicago Tribune, October 20, 1918

The final numbers for the 1918 flu are staggering.  The estimates are that over 500 million people or one-third of the population of the world at the time were infected with the virus with the number of deaths being at least 50 million.  675.000 of those deaths were in the United States.  27,000 deaths reported for CoVid-19, as of the date of this article, still sounds much better than 50 million for the 1918 flu. (Let’s hope it doesn’t get to be much more)

We don’t yet know what the final numbers will be in the battle against CoVid-19 but we do know that what we do as individuals can make a huge difference with not only CoVid-19 but will the other respiratory viruses including the flu which can be just as deadly to the most vulnerable.  We know by looking at historical data and listening to the medical professionals that while this is a very serious threat we are probably not looking at an apocalyptic outcome or not even anything close.

By using proper hygiene, avoiding crowds, social distancing and staying home if sick when possible and taking care of those most vulnerable we will make it through this as well.

In addition to the CDC website, there is also a very nifty website put together by the University of Michigan that is specific to the 1918 pandemic.  It is called the Influenza Encyclopedia and I highly recommend it.

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