Health
History Isn’t Entirely Repeating Itself in Covid’s Aftermath
Five years after Covid-19 shut down activities all over the world, medical historians sometimes struggle to place the pandemic in context.
What, they are asking, should this ongoing viral threat be compared with?
Is Covid like the 1918 flu, terrifying when it was raging but soon relegated to the status of a long-ago nightmare?
Is it like polio, vanquished but leaving in its wake an injured but mostly unseen group of people who suffer long-term health consequences?
Or is it unique in the way it has spawned a widespread rejection of public health advice and science itself, attitudes that some fear may come to haunt the nation when the next major illness arises?
Some historians say it is all of the above, which makes Covid stand out in the annals of pandemics.
In many ways, historians say, the Covid pandemic — which the World Health Organization declared on March 11, 2020 — reminds them of the 1918 flu. Both were terrifying, killing substantial percentages of the population, unlike, say, polio or Ebola or H.I.V., terrible as those illnesses were.
The 1918 flu killed 675,000 people out of a U.S. population of 103 million, or 65 out of every 10,000. Covid has so far killed about 1,135,000 Americans out of a population of 331.5 million, or 34 out of every 10,000.
Both pandemics dominated the news every day while they raged. And both were relegated to the back of most people’s minds as the numbers of infections and deaths fell.
J. Alexander Navarro, a medical historian at the University of Michigan, said that in the fall of 1918, when the nation was in the throes of the deadliest wave of the 1918 flu, “newspapers were chock-full of stories about influenza, detailing daily case tallies, death tolls, edicts and recommendations issued by officials.”
During the next year, the virus receded. And so did the nation’s attention.
There were no memorials for flu victims, no annual days of remembrance.
“The nation simply moved on,” Dr. Navarro said.
Much the same thing happened with Covid, historians say, although it took longer for the virus’s harshest effects to recede.
Most people live as though the threat is gone, with deaths a tiny fraction of what they once were.
In the week of Feb. 15, 273 Americans died of Covid. In the last week of 2021, 10,476 Americans died from Covid.
Interest in the Covid vaccine has plummeted, too. Now just “a measly 23 percent of adults” have gotten the updated vaccine, Dr. Navarro noted.
Remnants of Covid remain — lasting financial effects, lags in educational achievement, casual dress, Zoom meetings, a desire to work from home. But few think of Covid as they go about their daily lives.
Dora Vargha, a medical historian at the University of Exeter, noted that there had been no ongoing widespread effort to memorialize Covid deaths. Instead, with Covid, “people disappeared into hospitals and never came out.”
Now it is only their friends and families who remember.
Dr. Vargha called that response understandable. People, she said, do not want to be “dragged back” into memories of those Covid years.
But some, like those suffering from long Covid, can’t forget. In that sense, she sees parallels with other pandemics that, unlike the 1918 flu, left a swath of people who were permanently affected.
People who contracted paralytic polio in the 1950s described themselves to Dr. Vargha as “the dinosaurs,” reminders of the time before the vaccine, when the virus was killing or paralyzing children.
Every pandemic has its dinosaurs, she said. They are the Zika babies living with microcephaly. They are the people, often at the margins of society, who develop AIDS.They are the people who contract tuberculosis.
But despite the pleas from those who cannot forget Covid and who seek more research, more empathy, more attention, the more pervasive attitude is, “We don’t need to care anymore,” said Mary Fissell, a historian at Johns Hopkins University.
That sounds so callous, and yet, said Dr. Barron Lerner, a historian at NYU Langone Health, in the world of public health “there are always people who are left behind — damaged or still at risk.”
“It’s hurtful” for people to be shunted aside, Dr. Lerner said. “Their lives are altered. The attention you feel their situation warrants is downplayed.”
But, he added, “on a realistic basis, there are any number of things to study.” Resources are limited, he noted, adding, “it can make sense to move on.”
One aspect of the Covid pandemic, though, is still with the nation, and seems to be part of a new reality: It has markedly changed attitudes toward public health.
Kyle Harper, a historian at the University of Oklahoma, said he would give the biomedical response to Covid an A-plus. “The rollout of vaccines was incredible,” he said.
But, he said, “I would give the social response a C-minus.”
Dr. Lerner had the same thought.
Few medical experts, he said, expected so much resistance to measures like masks, quarantines, social distancing and — when they became available — vaccines and vaccine mandates.
With Covid, he said, “compared to other pandemics, the amount of pushback to standard public health practices was remarkable.”
“That sets Covid apart,” he said. Public health measures that had worked in the past were rejected.
Some of the pushback was reasonable, he said, like objections to wearing masks outdoors. But the spurning of public health measures was widespread and politicized.
Dr. Navarro agreed and said the contrast with 1918 was striking.
“In 1918, there was an abiding respect for science and medicine that seems lacking today,” he said. There were pockets of resistance to measures like masking and avoiding large groups. But for the most part, he said, people complied with public health advice. And compliance was divorced from politics.
World War I also played a role in the messaging, Dr. Navarro said, which may have bolstered adherence.
“Public health orders and recommendations often purposely used the same language that was used to drum up support for the war effort,” Dr. Navarro said. The authorities, for example, asked people “to cover their coughs and sneezes so as not to gas their fellow citizens as the doughboys were being gassed by the Germans.”
Dr. Lerner contrasted the Covid response to the response to the polio vaccine.
The polio vaccine underwent preliminary testing, and then widespread testing, in the 1950s, with broad public acceptance.
With Covid, “faith in the scientific process got lost,” Dr. Lerner said.
That does not bode well for the next pandemic, Dr. Harper said.
“There’s going to be another pandemic,” he said. “And if we have to fight it without public trust, that’s the worst possible response.”
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Health
Single infusion of controversial drug changed severe depression symptoms within hours, study finds
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People experiencing severe depression with suicidal symptoms may not have to wait weeks for traditional antidepressants to take effect.
A recent review suggests that a single intravenous ketamine infusion can provide rapid relief for some patients.
Originally developed as an anesthetic, ketamine is a medicine that can reduce pain and, in some cases, help treat depression, but it can also be misused as a recreational drug, experts warn.
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Researchers from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine reviewed 26 clinical trials that included more than 1,100 patients. Approximately 626 received ketamine and 540 served as controls who did not take the drug.
Most of the trials included patients with major depressive disorder, but 11.5% included those with bipolar depression and 7.7% included people with both unipolar and bipolar depressive diagnoses.
A recent review suggests that a single intravenous ketamine infusion can provide rapid relief for some patients with treatment-resistant depression. (iStock)
Compared to a placebo, a single treatment significantly reduced depression in just four hours and dramatically lowered suicidal thoughts within 24 hours, the study found.
Patients reported fewer depressive symptoms after a week and reduced suicidal thoughts for up to a month after one ketamine infusion. Those who received repeated ketamine infusions showed a similar reduction of suicidal and depressive symptoms at the end of the treatment.
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The most common adverse effects of ketamine – including headaches, numbness, dissociation (“out of body” experiences), nausea, dizziness and visual disturbances – were temporary and resolved within hours of the infusion.
Rarer, more serious side events included hospitalization, suicide attempts and suicide, but most were unrelated to ketamine, the review stated.
The analysis was published in May in JAMA Psychiatry.
Treatment-resistant depression
Major depressive disorder is a formal psychiatric diagnosis affecting approximately 280 million people globally, according to recent research.
Effective treatment involves a combination of therapy and medication, frequently antidepressants. However, for a few patients, symptoms do not respond to multiple therapies, a condition known as treatment-resistant depression, doctors say.
“When all existing treatment options fail, patients with severe depression could consider ketamine infusions.”
These patients are at a higher risk of very serious, sometimes tragic consequences, including suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts and death.
“When all existing treatment options fail, patients with severe depression could consider ketamine infusions,” lead author Taeho Greg Rhee, PhD, of the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, told Fox News Digital. “This is still a safer option when compared to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).”
Compared to a placebo, a single treatment significantly reduced depression in just four hours and dramatically lowered suicidal thoughts within 24 hours, the study found. (iStock)
Traditional antidepressants stabilize mood by slowly elevating serotonin levels in the brain, but it can take weeks for the full effect to be achieved.
Ketamine, in contrast, works rapidly by blocking glutamate, a neurotransmitter that can impact emotions negatively when levels are too high in the brain, according to Cleveland Clinic.
Implications for care
The authors say their findings have two important potential clinical applications.
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First, ketamine’s rapid effects can be a life-saving treatment in the emergency room for patients presenting with suicidal ideation.
Experts caution that the medication should only be administered in closely monitored settings, such as clinics, to ensure safe treatment. (iStock)
Second, the effects of a single ketamine infusion are relatively short-lived – as almost all patients relapsed with depressive symptoms after a single infusion – so those with treatment-resistant depression will need repeated sessions.
“While intravenous ketamine is not yet FDA-approved for treating depression, it may still be used with off-label indications for those with severe depression and/or with a high risk of suicidal behaviors,” said Rhee.
Experts urge caution despite promise
Dr. Lama Bazzi, a psychiatrist in private practice in New York City, has had several patients receive ketamine infusions.
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“For a small subset of patients in a major depressive episode or struggling with suicidal thoughts, intravenous ketamine can be genuinely lifesaving,” Bazzi, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital. “The relief they experience is almost immediate, offering them distance from the intensity of their emotions.”
However, she cautions that the medication should only be administered in closely monitored settings, such as clinics, to ensure safe treatment.
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Ketamine is not a panacea, Rhee agreed, warning of the potential risk of abuse and addiction.
“It should only be used medically,” he advised.
Ketamine’s rapid effects can be a life-saving treatment in the emergency room for patients presenting with suicidal ideation, some experts claim. (Getty Images)
Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News senior medical analyst, noted in previous comments to Fox News Digital that ketamine is increasingly being used to treat severe depression, but emphasized that it should be administered under careful medical supervision because of its potential risks.
Study limitations
Although the studies compared ketamine with a placebo, some patients may have realized they were receiving the drug. This could have influenced how they reported their symptoms and how effective they perceived the treatment to be, according to the researchers.
“It should only be used medically.”
Another limitation is the small sample size of the studies, which could make the effects seem disproportionately magnified.
Also, as this was a review of many different studies, it is challenging to apply the findings to the general population, the researchers noted.
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“While long-term outcomes have not been studied, I believe that when patients are severely depressed or suicidal, ketamine is sometimes the only choice that almost always works,” Bazzi added.
Anyone interested in exploring alternative depression treatments should first consult a doctor.
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Tick bite-related ER visits are at their highest seasonal levels since 2017 across most U.S. regions, raising concerns about increased Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses.
That’s according to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Tick Bite Tracker, which monitors weekly emergency department visits associated with tick bites across the country.
For every 100,000 ER visits, approximately 71 were related to tick bites in April 2026, compared to a historical seasonal average of roughly 30 per 100,000.
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Some of the highest rates of tick-based ER visits were among children younger than 10 years and adults between 70 and 79 years.
A close-up shows a parasitic mite in motion on a human fingertip, highlighting the potential for disease transmission such as encephalitis. (iStock)
“Over the past three decades, the geographic range of the blacklegged tick has expanded significantly, and with it, the risk of Lyme disease and other Ixodes-transmitted infections,” Dr. Steven Goldberg, a family medicine physician who practices urgent care and family medicine at UofLHealth in Louisville, Kentucky, told Fox News Digital.
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“The Ohio River Valley region is one of the most striking examples — Lyme disease cases in Ohio have increased roughly 10-fold over the past decade, likely driven by the convergence of Northeastern and Upper Midwestern tick populations meeting in that corridor.”
States like Virginia and West Virginia, as well as areas south of the traditional endemic zone, are reporting increasing tick abundance and disease cases, the doctor noted.
“Over the past three decades, the geographic range of the blacklegged tick has expanded significantly.”
“The lone star tick is also expanding its range northward beyond its traditional stronghold in the Southeast, which means diseases like ehrlichiosis and alpha-gal syndrome are appearing in regions where clinicians may not yet be thinking about them,” he warned.
Some climate studies predict that the blacklegged tick’s suitable habitat could expand by over 200% by the end of the century, Goldberg noted, including into Canada and across the central and southern U.S.
What’s driving the spike?
“Warmer, wetter conditions allow ticks to survive in habitats that previously would have been too cold,” said Dr. Suraj Saggar, chief of infectious disease at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, New Jersey. “Milder winters also extend the lifespan of both ticks and the animals they feed on, accelerating tick reproduction and shortening their life cycles.”
Areas that historically experienced longer, colder winters or significant snow cover are now more hospitable to ticks, the doctor noted.
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“As temperatures rise and precipitation patterns change, ticks are able to spread northward and thrive in new ecosystems,” he said.
Another contributing factor is increased land development and human expansion into wooded and grassy areas, as well as reforestation of formerly agricultural land.
“As temperatures rise and precipitation patterns change, ticks are able to spread northward and thrive in new ecosystems,” an expert said. (iStock)
“The recovery and expansion of white-tailed deer populations — critical hosts for adult blacklegged ticks — has been a major driver,” Goldberg added. “Deer density is positively associated with Lyme disease incidence. Small mammal communities, particularly white-footed mice that serve as key reservoir hosts for Borrelia burgdorferi, also play a central role.”
Tick-borne diseases
Tick bites are known to transmit numerous illnesses, the most widespread of which is Lyme disease, a bacterial infection.
“Lyme disease cases alone have increased roughly two- to threefold over the past 20 years,” Saggar said. Approximately 476,000 Americans are diagnosed and treated for Lyme disease each year, per CDC surveillance data.
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Also common are anaplasmosis and ehrlichiosis, two different types of bacterial infections, according to the doctor. Tick bites can also cause babesiosis, a malaria-like parasitic disease that infects and destroys red blood cells.
“Another growing concern is alpha-gal syndrome, a condition in which a (lone star) tick bite triggers a serious allergic reaction to red meat,” Saggar said. “In rare cases, people have died from anaphylactic reactions linked to alpha-gal syndrome following a tick bite.”
Some common symptoms of tick-borne illness include fever, chills, fatigue, headaches, muscle aches and joint pain. (iStock)
Ticks can also transmit viruses, including the Powassan virus, which can cause severe neurologic injury.
“Powassan virus disease is arguably the most concerning emerging tick-borne infection,” said Goldberg, who is also chief medical officer at HealthTrack. “It’s transmitted by the same blacklegged tick that carries Lyme disease, but unlike Lyme, it can be transmitted within minutes of tick attachment.”
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Powassan can cause severe encephalitis with a roughly 10% to 15% fatality rate, and more than half of survivors have lasting neurological deficits, Goldberg noted.
In the Rocky Mountain states, the Rocky Mountain wood tick (Dermacentor andersoni) transmits Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Colorado tick fever.
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“In the Southeast and South-Central U.S., the lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum) drives a different set of concerns: ehrlichiosis, tularemia, and two emerging viral threats — Heartland virus and Bourbon virus,” said Goldberg.
Symptoms to watch for
Some common symptoms of tick-borne illness include fever, chills, fatigue, headaches, muscle aches and joint pain, according to Saggar.
Another sign is the classic “bull’s-eye” rash associated with Lyme disease, known medically as “erythema migrans.”
“If you think you have been bitten by a tick, you should seek medical attention if you develop symptoms after a known tick bite or after spending time in tick-prone areas, especially during the spring, summer and fall.” (iStock)
“Because testing can sometimes be falsely negative early in the disease process, doctors may treat patients based on symptoms and exposure history rather than waiting for laboratory confirmation,” Saggar noted.
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“If you think you have been bitten by a tick, you should seek medical attention if you develop symptoms after a known tick bite or after spending time in tick-prone areas, especially during the spring, summer and fall.”
Preventing tick bites
As there are no vaccines currently available for any tick-borne disease in the U.S., prevention is the most effective strategy.
Goldberg shared the following recommended prevention strategies.
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- Use EPA-approved repellents, including DEET, picaridin, IR3535 or oil of lemon eucalyptus on exposed skin. Treat clothing and gear with permethrin (a synthetic insecticide and repellent) or purchase pre-treated clothing.
- Wear light-colored clothing (to spot ticks more easily), long sleeves and long pants tucked into socks when in wooded or grassy areas.
- After spending time outdoors, check your entire body, paying special attention to the scalp, behind the ears, armpits, groin and behind the knees, the doctor advised. It’s also recommended to shower within two hours of coming indoors.
- Tumble-dry clothing on high heat for at least 10 minutes to kill any ticks on clothing.
- Remove ticks promptly and properly. Using fine-tipped tweezers, grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible, and pull upward with steady, even pressure. Clean the bite area afterward.
Approximately 476,000 Americans are diagnosed and treated for Lyme disease each year, per CDC data.
“The longer a tick is attached, the higher the risk of disease transmission — for Lyme disease, transmission generally requires at least 36 hours of attachment,” Goldberg said. “The Powassan virus can be transmitted much more quickly.”
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