HokieTalks: Virginia Tech and COVID-19 Lessons from the past

The purpose of hokey talks is to engage our audiences with faculty in their research. But they're not just any faculty, their extraordinary faculty who are making a difference in our lives and across the globe. There'll be a total of four throughout the academic year. Our first hokey talk focused on Virginia Tech's Coven 19 response through science and engineering service in service to community health. Tonight you'll hear more about what we're doing tonight. And it's a collaboration with the College of Liberal Arts and human sciences, the pamphlet College of Business, and the Virginia, Maryland regional College of Veterinary Medicine. We have two more on the on the schedule. So the first one will be on February fourth, where we will be highlighting extraordinary experiential learning programs at Virginia Tech. And on March 24th, what we'll focus on Virginia Tech's role in social justice. We are honored to have Dean Daniel Gibbons from the Virginia, Maryland regional College of Veterinary Medicine as their facilitator this morning. And I think I forgot to say that we also have a faculty member from the Virginia, Maryland reach the College of Veterinary Medicine in without hope you talked tonight. I'm going to introduce him and then I will turn the program over to him for the rest of the evening. Dr. Daniel givens is the fifth Dean of the Virginia Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine. He arrived at Virginia Tech this past June from Auburn University. He was the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and a professor in the Department of patho biology in the College of Veterinary Medicine. He is only dean at very, he's the only dean at Virginia Tech to begin his tenure. During the height of a pandemic. Doctor Gibbons has brought a timely bold vision to strengthen the veterinary colleges One Health approach to solving complex problems. As outlined in the college's recently unveiled 2020 to 2026 strategic plan. He will lead the college's efforts to become international leaders and Veterinary Medicine, Biomedical Sciences and Public Health. And to protect and enhance animal, human and environmental health and welfare. Diplomats of both the American College of Veterinary microbiologist and the American College of theoria genealogists, which I understand from our pre talk is OBGYN for animals. Dean Gibbons has conducted applied research and infectious diseases that affect reproduction of cattle. His research has led to more than 85 peer reviewed scientific manuscripts, to international patents and numerous national and international presentations. After earning a doctorate of veterinary medicine from Auburn University, Doctor Gibbons practice veterinary medicine for both food animals and companion animals in central Kentucky. He then went on to complete a PhD in biomedical science performing NIH funded postdoctoral research. We are delighted to have him with us this evening. And Doctor Gibbons, I turn the program over to you now. Thanks much, Debbie, and welcome to each of you all for joining us this evening. We're certainly excited to spend a little bit of time with you. We've gotten and really interesting program that's going to focus on Coburn 19. What should we learn? The past? How can we live in the present? And then when can we make plans for future travel in the midst of COBIT 19? So understand it's best for me to go over some. Housekeeping ground rules as we begin this hokey talk. Those are we plan to be with you for about an hour this evening. I will introduce each of three presenters who will share a ten minute hokey talk. And at the end of each talk, I will, at the end of the last talk, I will facilitate the question and answer session. For all three presenters. Do know that you can enter your questions using the Q and a button that you will find at the bottom of your screen. We will get to as many of your questions as we can. At the end of the three talks, we aren't able to get to your question. Our friends and alumni relations will seek to follow up with answers to any questions that we are unable to address due to the time circumstances. So understand that Virginia Tech is doing some really outstanding research with regards to Coburn 19, the current pandemic associated with disease caused by this corona virus, sars Coby too. And it's so interesting that, that what would be considered a small virus, this single strand of ribonucleic acid surrounded by a viral proteins encased in a cellular membrane, can cause so much havoc with all of our daily lives. Understand that research at this university focuses on aspects of that virus itself. We have researchers who are focused on developing diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccinations for sars Coby to the cause of COBIT 19 disease. Understand that not only the biomedical science aspect, but when we talk about the applied that any medical aspect we have individual seeking to understand very clearly what are the concerns that we should have in that arena regarding our pets. We also have individuals on the bigger scope and scale, thinking about public health issues. We've all heard and hopefully we are all diligently abiding by the protocols and preventions that makes such a difference. Washing of hands, maintaining the six feet of distance between individuals, whenever possible. The wearing of mask, the not going to work when SEC, these things that are so critical to appropriate control, the spread or transmission of this virus. Understand that we're going to look at several critical subject areas this evening that will help all of us have a little different perspective as we conclude this hour and think about what we can learn from the past. How do we most appropriately live in the present? And then when can we start making those travel plans for the future? So with that intro, it's my privilege to tell you a little bit about Tom Ewing. Tom's going to provide the first presentation for us this evening. Understand that Tom is a professor in the Department of History at Virginia Tech and Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research at the College of Liberal Arts and human sciences. He teaches courses in Russian, European, and World History. Tom has written five books and numerous book chapters and journal articles. His current research project explores the transmission of information about the so-called Russian influenza in 1889 to 1890. Using data and digital humanities approaches to medical history. At Virginia Tech, he coordinates the data in social contexts program, which sustains an interdisciplinary approach of data analytics, computational skills, and critical thinking in the humanities and social sciences. He has received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities to run workshops on the 1918 Spanish Influenza and on images and text in medical history. I believe it was Winston Churchill that wrote. Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Tom, helpless to accurately learned some history so that we can make the best use of opportunities that we have today. Let me turn the program over to Utah. Okay. Thank you very much. I appreciate the chance to to be here and I'll hope to address that question. So I'm going to talk about something we are calling a flu mask project, which, which started in the spring of this year. I have been studying and teaching about the gods, Nietzsche influenza for a number of years, but how there was a sudden urgency in about February and March to think historically about epidemics and particularly around public health questions. And so it made sense for me to get started on this. And then I added two fabulous research assistance doesn't comparable from the history masters program and narrow wake, who finished her PhD in Science, Technology and Society and 20-20. And we've been really lucky to publish a number of articles since March and April of this year. All of which really address the question that the gibbons raised, which is happiness. How can historical thinking about epidemics not only shape the way we think about the current epidemic, but, but how we behave and what we're doing. So I'm going to talk about, about three questions that have come up over the course of this project. The first is do masks work? I mean, the answer is yes. And we know that from scientists and engineers, but we can also learn that lesson from, from history. The second question actually became really complicated, which is, who wore masks in 1918? I thought I had an answer that when I started this project, but the more I looked at it, the more complicated, uh, Pj, which is the sign of a great research project. And the third question is, what lessons can we learn from, from 1918 for thinking about how we deal with Cove it in 20-20 and increasingly looking ahead to 2020 warned me not to give it away. But certainly the most important lesson I take from this is, you know, listen to public health experts, understand the advice that you're being given and follow it. And recognize that the choices you make as an individual have social consequences. And this is most obviously the case with masks, but guys with so many other things that we're learning to live with, you know, we really need to recognize that. But let me start with the question I asked in terms of did masks work and who wore masks? I'm going to start with right button. This illustration which appeared in October of 1918 from the illustrated current news. You know, and I think you can see in the, in the catchment and on the right here warnings or advice from public health experts that are going to seem very similar. Not only to what we're living with with COBIT, but actually what we hear every year with the seasonal flu. Do not take a vs breath meeting, do it don't, don't breathe. What whether people are breathing of light, those that cough and sneeze, don't visit poorly ventilated places. And then for our purposes and sick rooms where a gauze masks like an illustration and that's really striking photograph of a nurse wearing a mask, you know, I think becomes very emblematic of what's happening in the fall of 1918 when people are suddenly being advised to wear masks. But the primary recommendation and certainly the most widespread and consistent, really had to do with what we call health care workers, physicians, nurses, and people, family members of patients with influenza were pretty much universally recommend it to wear masks and to do that, to, to keep down the infection. The second category that was relatively common in 1918 had to do with occupations that has some kind of public interaction. So these are again, very famous photographs. A policeman on the right from New York City in three women conductors from streetcars in New York City also wearing masks happen in some big cities that happened some other places in the country, but it certainly wasn't universal. What we're used to saying now, you know, all the bus drivers wearing masks or all the waiters and restaurants wearing mask was actually relatively on column. And in 1980, these were really meant to say, people are engaging with the public, should wear a mask on My name is highly recommended in terms of just kind of normal activities in 1918, again, these photographs kinda give you some examples. A woman wearing a mask while shopping in Indianapolis, a street sweeper of Chicago barbers and Berkeley wearing masks, although not their clients. But they were actually relatively few places in the United States that required masks all the time in public. Indianapolis happened to be one of those cities, but Chicago never did. They never required masks. Most commonplaces extra. California, Berkeley did Oakley did other cities required masks, but not, you know, most places in the United States night's meeting did not require masks and public Ahmed, some health officials actively discouraged people from wearing masks. And I think this is a lesson to lesson six from 1918. What is public health experts can get it wrong? Or they can change their mind, or they may offer different advice. But the most important lesson is think about what they were recommending. They didn't really understand exactly how the disease was transmitted. And so they underestimated how important it was, for example, to wear masks inside or in closed spaces. But one of the important similarities we see in 1918 with what we've looked through and 20-20 was resistance. People didn't want to wear masks. And these two photographs from San Francisco where again, very famous shy people actually being arrested for violating a mask mandate. And I like the caption on the left. Get one likes this right away, suggesting that the placement is telling this unmasked women took to put on a mask. So people did follow the instructions and then they were arrested. This happened again in San Francisco. It happened in other parts of the country, in Indianapolis and other cities in Indiana and Utah, Ogden, and other places where they had masked mandates. When we looked at this and ask the question, why didn't people wear masks? The answers, I think we're again, significant for what we're living through now. Yes, there were some people who objected As a matter of principle. They didn't want the government tell them what to do, or they disagree with the medicine. But those were pretty unusual. Far more comment from what we could see, where people who were just indifferent, they didn't care, or they were ignorant. They didn't know they were supposed to wear a mask or how to wear a mask. And we certainly see those examples and in 2020, you know, reduce the people who object for political reasons or other reasons to wearing masks. But we also see a lot of people who just don't want to or prefer not to or don't know they're supposed to. And we see the consequences of that now, as we saw in 1918. But we really had a hard time, as I mentioned, answering the question of who wore masks, because it's really hard to find good evidence for that. And one method we developed to do this came from just trying to find some just kind of normal pictures. So this is Stockton, California. On November 11th, 1918, the data war ended as Dr. California, like most cities in the country, had a big celebration, big pray. What was unusual in Stockton as they had amassed, meant that everyone was supposed to wear a mask. And public health officer Minerva Goodman instructed people to wear masks. But we found about four or five pictures just showing people out in the celebrations where we could actually go through and count how many of these people were wearing masks and MAD weren't wearing masks and how many were wearing masks incorrectly. And as you can see here, it's about half and half, half people wearing a mask, but about half are either not wearing a mask or their incorrectly wearing and ask, you know what? Again, we see those same patterns and been 20-20. They're not following the house, the public up the advice of health officers. And they pay a consequence for that it does contributed to the spread of disease. So often when I talk about this topic, I'm asked, why don't we know more about the magnetic epidemic? Why don't we learn about in school, why doesn't that mean, and why don't we give wh