A Look Back of History One Hundred Year Ago: The Deathly Pandemic in Indonesia

Not many people know that the deathly disease happened in some countries a hundred year ago. Indonesia, was previously called as Netherlands Indies, in 1918, was recorded as one of countries that was seriously infected by the pandemic of influenza. The disease had killed so many lives and many infected victims were taken into serious treatment. .

Tidak banyak orang yang tahu bahwa penyakit mematikan itu pernah terjadi dibeberapa negara di dunia seratus tahun yang lalu. Indonesia, sebelumnya disebut sebagai Hindia Belanda, pada tahun 1918, tercatat sebagai negara yang ikut terinfeksi oleh pandemi influenza. Penyakit ini telah membunuh banyak orang dan beberapa pasien harus dirawat dengan serius.

In the midst of World War I, this deadly flu hit Southeast Asia. Historical records said the Dutch colonial authority believed that the disease originated from China. In early 1918, some patients were detected to have influenza in Hong Kong port. These people were on their way to Southeast Asia while another historical source claimed that the pandemic of 1918 started in the United States of America in March 1918, and spread to Europe along with the arrival of the US troops sent there. However, it was not so clear where it was early originated. This virus also attacked Bombay, India in the same month, and reached Pankattan, in the east coast of Sumatra. The Netherlands Indies Health Agency also concluded that the high morbidity of the flu was caused by factors such as the susceptibility of the population to infection by influenza; the short period of incubation; the fact that the virus can cause severe health impacts between 2 and 5 days; the transmission’s mode was that the virus spread from the respiratory organs from a patient to another through speaking, coughing, sneezing; and the fact that many who were slightly ill remained working and continued to socialize with others including those who worked in schools, factories, mosques, and churches that helped spread the virus.

Di tengah Perang Dunia I, flu mematikan ini melanda Asia Tenggara. Catatan sejarah mengatakan otoritas kolonial Belanda percaya bahwa penyakit tersebut berasal dari China. Pada awal 1918, beberapa pasien terdeteksi mengalami influenza di pelabuhan Hong Kong. Orang-orang ini sedang dalam perjalanan ke Asia Tenggara sementara sumber sejarah lain mengklaim bahwa pandemi 1918 dimulai di Amerika Serikat pada bulan Maret 1918, dan menyebar ke Eropa bersamaan dengan kedatangan tentara AS yang dikirim ke sana. Namun, tidak begitu jelas darimana asalnya. Virus ini juga menyerang Bombay, India pada bulan yang sama, dan mencapai Pankattan, di pantai timur Sumatera. Badan Kesehatan Hindia Belanda juga menyimpulkan bahwa morbiditas flu yang tinggi disebabkan oleh faktor-faktor seperti kerentanan populasi terhadap infeksi oleh influenza; periode inkubasi singkat; fakta bahwa virus tersebut dapat menyebabkan dampak kesehatan yang parah antara 2 dan 5 hari; Modus transmisi adalah bahwa virus tersebut menyebar dari organ pernapasan dari seorang pasien ke pasien lainnya melalui berbicara, terbatuk-batuk, bersin; dan fakta bahwa banyak yang sedikit sakit tetap bekerja dan terus bersosialisasi dengan orang lain termasuk mereka yang bekerja di sekolah, pabrik, masjid, dan gereja yang membantu menyebarkan virus.

The Dutch authority anticipated this virus spread by preventing the advent of influence, but it was not wholly covered the Indonesia archipelago. The dutch authority believed the virus was early hit Indonesia started from Buleleng, Bali, then it went to East Java. In two weeks ahead, the deathly flue attacked the Surabaya citizen. It was identified that ten of thousands of people were infected by this virus in Surabaya alone. After having this record the dutch administration decided to apply anti-malaria drug, was locally known as pil kina as prophylaxis to decrease the possible complication and as the way to prevent from other chronic disease. The authority also took a serious prevention by advising the patient to consume the opium.

Otoritas Belanda mengantisipasi penyebaran virus ini dengan mencegah munculnya pengaruh, namun belum sepenuhnya ditutupi kepulauan Indonesia. Otoritas Belanda percaya bahwa virus tersebut mulai menyerang Indonesia mulai dari Buleleng, Bali, lalu menuju ke Jawa Timur. Dalam dua minggu ke depan, serangan mematikan tersebut menyerang warga Surabaya. Teridentifikasi bahwa sepuluh ribu orang terinfeksi oleh virus ini di Surabaya saja. Setelah melihat catatan ini, pemerintah Belanda memutuskan untuk membagikan obat anti malaria, secara lokal dikenal sebagai pil kina atau profilaksis untuk mengurangi kemungkinan komplikasi dan sebagai cara untuk mencegah penyakit kronis lainnya. Pihak berwenang juga melakukan pencegahan serius dengan menasihati pasien untuk mengkonsumsi opium.

The pandemic influenza was divided into two waves. First wave took place in the length of July till August, and the beginning of September in the western part of the Archipelago. The second wave, occurred from the end of the October until December in the eastern part of Indonesia. At the end of 1918, this deathly flu spread over the whole archipelago. According to some records, there are some other disease that attacked the Indonesia population. They said, almost 10.000 people died of cholera, more than 900 from smallpox and some 700 other plagues, but the influenza virus went over these number which killed 400,000 people in November 1918 alone. This was characterized by its maliciousness; the flu symptoms were much more severe.

Pandemi infulenza terbagi menjadi dua gelombang. Gelombang pertama berlangsung sepanjang bulan Juli sampai Agustus, dan awal September di bagian barat Nusantara. Gelombang kedua, terjadi dari akhir Oktober sampai Desember di bagian timur Indonesia. Pada akhir tahun 1918, flu mematikan ini menyebar ke seluruh nusantara. Menurut beberapa catatan, ada beberapa penyakit lain yang menyerang penduduk Indonesia. Mereka mengatakan, hampir 10.000 orang meninggal karena kolera, lebih dari 900 dari cacar dan sekitar 700 malapetaka lainnya, namun virus influenza melebihi jumlah tersebut, virus ini membunuh 400.000 orang pada bulan November 1918 saja. Hal ini ditandai dengan kebinasaannya; Gejala flu jauh lebih parah

This deathly pandemic had made the Dutch Colonial government to issue an “Influenza Ordinance” in order to response and mitigated the measurement that were carried out promptly and correctly and the immediate action was crucially needed to prevent the future outbreaks in archipelago. The government also formed the commission to detect and investigate the real cause of the pandemic. The law consists of information of influenza symptoms, response and prevention measures for people and administrations across the nation. Based on this crisis, the Dutch Colonial also issued the flag of influenza, was specifically made and took the direction toward the sun set till the sun rise in the pandemic areas. The yellow flag was fluttered from the sun rise till the sun set. This announcement was issued to the Health Department of Colonial Director, principal, school, ships and the harbor class 1-4, the harbor master and the ship captains. The Dutch government also instructed to spread the information on pandemic influenza. The government promoted the awareness of the serious cause and the prevention habits among the public spots. The government also took into account risk communication measures by instructing its information office to spread information on pandemic influenza. A brochure was printed to promote awareness on influenza prevention habits among the public places.

Wabah yang mematikan ini membuat pemerintah Kolonial Belanda mengeluarkan "Ordonansi Influenza" untuk menanggapi dan mengambil langkah dengan segera dan dan tindakan itu diperlukan untuk mencegah wabah menyebar di nusantara. Pemerintah juga membentuk komisi untuk mendeteksi dan menyelidiki penyebab sebenarnya dari pandemi tersebut. Undang-undang tersebut terdiri dari informasi gejala influenza, respon dan tindakan pencegahan untuk masyarakt dan administrasi di seluruh wilayah. Berdasarkan krisis ini, Kolonial Belanda juga mengeluarkan bendera influenza, secara khusus dibuat dan mengambil arah menuju matahari terbenam sampai matahari terbit di daerah pandemi. Bendera kuning berkibar dari matahari terbit sampai matahari terbenam. Pengumuman ini dikeluarkan ke Departemen Kesehatan Kolonial Direktur, kepala sekolah, sekolah, kapal dan pelabuhan kelas 1-4, pelabuhan induk dan para kapten. Pemerintah Belanda juga menginstruksikan untuk menyebarkan informasi tentang pandemi influenza. Pemerintah mempromosikan kesadaran akan penyebab serius dan kebiasaan pencegahan di antara tempat-tempat umum. Pemerintah juga mempertimbangkan langkah-langkah komunikasi risiko dengan menginstruksikan kantor informasinya untuk menyebarkan informasi tentang pandemi influenza. Brosur dicetak untuk mempromosikan kesadaran akan kebiasaan pencegahan influenza di antara tempat-tempat umum

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References:

Mardoto

NCBI

Arukmantara

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