In every pandemic in modern history, language and naming have been indicative of the public’s perception of and response to the disease. During the 1918 Influenza pandemic, for example, the contagion was almost universally referred to as the “Spanish Flu” despite the fact that it did not originate in Spain. This led to irrational fears and unmerited xenophobia towards the Spanish. [1] The importance of language to the public perception of a health crisis has led health organizations to adopt more careful and deliberate naming practices today. In our research into the 1918 Influenza Pandemic, an interesting pattern pertaining to the language surrounding the contagion itself emerged. Print media coverage of the term “Influenza” was highest at the beginning of the pandemic, and showed a sharp decline in coverage throughout the rest of the pandemic. However, print media coverage of the term “flu” was lowest at the start of the pandemic and showed a marked increase throughout the rest of the pandemic. In fact, “flu” frequency continued to increase in the post-pandemic period, pointing to the widespread generalization of the term to describe illnesses other than human, respiratory influenza (with the emergence of common phrases like “hog flu,” “stomach flu,” etc.). [2] This negative trend between the use of the colloquial term “flu” and the more technical term “influenza” is perhaps indicative of the societal perception of the contagion; the increased use of “flu” compared to “influenza” reflects the phenomenon that, as the virus spread, it became more ingrained into American society and less novel. [3] This regression towards informality, however, isn’t unique to the 1918 Influenza pandemic. A similar pattern can be seen during the COVID-19 pandemic through the inspection of google search frequencies of the technical term “coronavirus” and the more colloquial term “covid”. “Coronavirus” had the highest frequency during the period between March 15 and 21, at the beginning of the pandemic. As the pandemic progressed, the frequency of this term exponentially decreased. On the other hand, the relative frequency of the term “covid” was at its lowest from March 15 to 21, and saw a sharp then slight general increase throughout the rest of the pandemic. [4] Although a similar trend was seen between the two pandemics, there was a significant difference in the speed of uptake of the more colloquial term. During the 1918 Influenza Pandemic, it appears that the frequent use of the colloquial word occurred later than in the COVID-19 pandemic. This is likely due to the speed at which information can be disseminated in the age of social media and the internet. [5] Although these findings are relevant and interesting, research on the use of colloquial language and public health phenomena should be further pursued, as the implications trends like these can have on public health can be immense. References
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Writers:Catherine Discenza ArchivesCategories
All
|