Origin
The Asian Flu of 1957 was much milder compared to the Spanish Flu. However, in terms of scale, the two were similar.
"In February 1957, a new influenza virus (H2N2), called the ‘‘Asian strain,’’ emerged in China. It subsequently spread to Hong Kong in April and through eastern Asia and the Middle East in April, May, and June. By June, more than 20 countries, including the U.S., had experienced their first cases. South American and African countries were afflicted in July and August. In September, widespread epidemics began in North America and Europe."
--D. A. Henderson, Brooke Courtney, Thomas V. Inglesby, Eric Toner, and Jennifer B. Nuzzo
"In February 1957, a new influenza virus (H2N2), called the ‘‘Asian strain,’’ emerged in China. It subsequently spread to Hong Kong in April and through eastern Asia and the Middle East in April, May, and June. By June, more than 20 countries, including the U.S., had experienced their first cases. South American and African countries were afflicted in July and August. In September, widespread epidemics began in North America and Europe."
--D. A. Henderson, Brooke Courtney, Thomas V. Inglesby, Eric Toner, and Jennifer B. Nuzzo
Spread
The new strain of the influenza virus was first identified in the February of 1957. It then soon spread from Guizhou to Hong Kong in April. From Kong Kong, it quickly started a "rapid movement across the East with 100 000 cases in Taiwan by mid-May and over a million in India by June."
--Claire Jackson
"The first cases in the UK were in late June, with a serious outbreak in the general population occurring in August. From mid-September onwards the Virus spread from the North, West, and Wales to the South, East, and Scotland ... It peaked the week ending 17 October with 600 deaths reported in major towns in England and Wales. There was some evidence of a limited return in the winter."
--Claire Jackson
"In the summer of 1957, the virus came to the United States quietly with a series of small outbreaks. When children returned to school in the fall, they spread the disease in classrooms and brought it home to their families ... By December 1957, the worst seemed to be over."
--flu.gov
--Claire Jackson
"The first cases in the UK were in late June, with a serious outbreak in the general population occurring in August. From mid-September onwards the Virus spread from the North, West, and Wales to the South, East, and Scotland ... It peaked the week ending 17 October with 600 deaths reported in major towns in England and Wales. There was some evidence of a limited return in the winter."
--Claire Jackson
"In the summer of 1957, the virus came to the United States quietly with a series of small outbreaks. When children returned to school in the fall, they spread the disease in classrooms and brought it home to their families ... By December 1957, the worst seemed to be over."
--flu.gov
Medical Responses
The 1957 pandemic revealed that countries were officially beginning to use vaccination to combat the influenza virus.
"[On August 27-28,] ASTHO pointed out that '[p]revention, which in the absence of effective means to stop the spread of infection[,] resolves itself into an immunization program.' Accordingly, the association decided that the primary objective for the vaccine programs was 'to prevent illness and death from epidemic influenza within the limits of available vaccine.'"
--D. A. Henderson, Brooke Courtney, Thomas V. Inglesby, Eric Toner, and Jennifer B. Nuzzo
"[V]accine was to be allocated to states according to population size, and it was to be distributed by the manufacturers through their customary commercial networks."
--D. A. Henderson, Brooke Courtney, Thomas V. Inglesby, Eric Toner, and Jennifer B. Nuzzo
"The importance of home care for patients was stressed. ASTHO recommended that 'hospital admissions be limited as far as possible to those cases of influenza with complications, or to those with other diseases which might be aggravated by influenza.' At the meeting, ASTHO also stated that 'there is no practical advantage in the closing of schools or the curtailment of public gatherings as it relates to the spread of this disease [emphasis added].' This was in recognition that they saw no practical means for limiting the spread of infection."
--D. A. Henderson, Brooke Courtney, Thomas V. Inglesby, Eric Toner, and Jennifer B. Nuzzo
"[On August 27-28,] ASTHO pointed out that '[p]revention, which in the absence of effective means to stop the spread of infection[,] resolves itself into an immunization program.' Accordingly, the association decided that the primary objective for the vaccine programs was 'to prevent illness and death from epidemic influenza within the limits of available vaccine.'"
--D. A. Henderson, Brooke Courtney, Thomas V. Inglesby, Eric Toner, and Jennifer B. Nuzzo
"[V]accine was to be allocated to states according to population size, and it was to be distributed by the manufacturers through their customary commercial networks."
--D. A. Henderson, Brooke Courtney, Thomas V. Inglesby, Eric Toner, and Jennifer B. Nuzzo
"The importance of home care for patients was stressed. ASTHO recommended that 'hospital admissions be limited as far as possible to those cases of influenza with complications, or to those with other diseases which might be aggravated by influenza.' At the meeting, ASTHO also stated that 'there is no practical advantage in the closing of schools or the curtailment of public gatherings as it relates to the spread of this disease [emphasis added].' This was in recognition that they saw no practical means for limiting the spread of infection."
--D. A. Henderson, Brooke Courtney, Thomas V. Inglesby, Eric Toner, and Jennifer B. Nuzzo
However, not enough production was put to producing vaccines.
"Approximately 4 million doses were released in August, 9 million in September, and 17 million in October. This amounted to enough vaccine for 17% of the population. However, the epidemic had peaked in late October 1957. New outbreaks declined sharply in November, and most terminated by the end of that month. Given the limited amount of vaccine available and the fact that it was not more than 60% effective, it is apparent that vaccine had no appreciable effect on the trend of the pandemic."
--D. A. Henderson, Brooke Courtney, Thomas V. Inglesby, Eric Toner, and Jennifer B. Nuzzo
"Approximately 4 million doses were released in August, 9 million in September, and 17 million in October. This amounted to enough vaccine for 17% of the population. However, the epidemic had peaked in late October 1957. New outbreaks declined sharply in November, and most terminated by the end of that month. Given the limited amount of vaccine available and the fact that it was not more than 60% effective, it is apparent that vaccine had no appreciable effect on the trend of the pandemic."
--D. A. Henderson, Brooke Courtney, Thomas V. Inglesby, Eric Toner, and Jennifer B. Nuzzo
Surveillance was also established in the United States to keep track of the spread of the flu.
"As of June 1957, CDC’s only available measure for assessing epidemiologic trends in the U.S. was through routine weekly telegraphic reports of deaths coded as ‘‘pneumonia’’ or ‘‘influenza.’’ The data were regularly reported to the National Office of Vital Statistics (NOVS)."
--D. A. Henderson, Brooke Courtney, Thomas V. Inglesby, Eric Toner, and Jennifer B. Nuzzo
"As of June 1957, CDC’s only available measure for assessing epidemiologic trends in the U.S. was through routine weekly telegraphic reports of deaths coded as ‘‘pneumonia’’ or ‘‘influenza.’’ The data were regularly reported to the National Office of Vital Statistics (NOVS)."
--D. A. Henderson, Brooke Courtney, Thomas V. Inglesby, Eric Toner, and Jennifer B. Nuzzo
Other surveillance systems were added in July, such as County Report, National Health Survey, and Absenteeism. And other countries soon adapted similar practices or surveillance methods.
"The emerging practice of disease surveillance revealed what many had long suspected: that locations such as schools and military camps proved fertile grounds for spreading the disease because of crowded conditions and inadequate hygiene. The epidemiological data that were collected on the success of vaccination programs—which had been initiated in the United States by the US Department of Defense—and other campaigns that encouraged handwashing, facemask wearing, and general hygiene, also began to inform new public policy responses."
--Adam Kamradt-Scott
"The emerging practice of disease surveillance revealed what many had long suspected: that locations such as schools and military camps proved fertile grounds for spreading the disease because of crowded conditions and inadequate hygiene. The epidemiological data that were collected on the success of vaccination programs—which had been initiated in the United States by the US Department of Defense—and other campaigns that encouraged handwashing, facemask wearing, and general hygiene, also began to inform new public policy responses."
--Adam Kamradt-Scott
Countries began to collaborate on the effort to combat infectious diseases.
"In 1947, following a request by a respected group of scientists, the Interim Commission of the WHO agreed to establish the World Influenza Centre (WIC) to collect and distribute information, conduct and coordinate laboratory work on the virus, and train new laboratory workers. Officially established in London in 1947, the WIC marked the start of the broader WHO Influenza Program to (1) plan against the reoccurrence of future pandemics, (2) develop control methods to limit the impact when a pandemic did appear, and (3) limit as much as possible the economic impacts of influenza epidemics and pandemics."
--Adam Kamradt-Scott
"At the heart of the WHO Influenza Program, though, was an international network of laboratories and scientists that shared information on the latest influenza-related scientific discoveries—a network that continues to function to the present day and that forms the basis of international efforts to control and mitigate the health impacts of influenza."
----Adam Kamradt-Scott
Scientific advancements also played a major role in forming responses to the flu pandemic.
According to WHO, "[1957 flu pandemic] was the first pandemic that could be studied throughout with the aid of laboratory techniques."
"In 1947, following a request by a respected group of scientists, the Interim Commission of the WHO agreed to establish the World Influenza Centre (WIC) to collect and distribute information, conduct and coordinate laboratory work on the virus, and train new laboratory workers. Officially established in London in 1947, the WIC marked the start of the broader WHO Influenza Program to (1) plan against the reoccurrence of future pandemics, (2) develop control methods to limit the impact when a pandemic did appear, and (3) limit as much as possible the economic impacts of influenza epidemics and pandemics."
--Adam Kamradt-Scott
"At the heart of the WHO Influenza Program, though, was an international network of laboratories and scientists that shared information on the latest influenza-related scientific discoveries—a network that continues to function to the present day and that forms the basis of international efforts to control and mitigate the health impacts of influenza."
----Adam Kamradt-Scott
Scientific advancements also played a major role in forming responses to the flu pandemic.
According to WHO, "[1957 flu pandemic] was the first pandemic that could be studied throughout with the aid of laboratory techniques."
This pandemic saw the first international collaboration to tackle the pandemic issue and set important example for future international security and control of diseases. Though WHO was established, the government still played a bigger role in public health. For example, the United States established new nation wide surveillance systems to monitor the spread of the influenza virus, such as the County Report, National Health Survey, and Absenteeism. Different from the past, this disease was the first pandemic that could be observed with laboratory techniques, signifying that the forefront of the war against diseases switched from hospitals to laboratories. Policymakers also began to see vaccines as an important method to fight infections diseases, even though the vaccine did little help for the 1957 pandemic and was still not scientifically verified as a reliable way to combat diseases. Role of traditional disease preventive methods, such as isolation and banning of public gatherings, diminished because policymakers realize that closing people could still catch the disease even if work and school were cancelled because urban areas made the spread of diseases easy, with the exception being the rural areas, where schools were a major cause for outbreaks in rural areas.