Nostalgia & History > Railfanning and the Hong Kong flu

OK, how many of you remember the HK flu from around 1969/1970? I sure do...he's why:

I wasn't old enough to drive yet so I remember my dad driving me down to see trains at the Santa Fe Fullerton (Ca) depot. His dad was a hoghead for UP and frequently worked the Anaheim Local, which would go through Fullerton. Knowing that dad was more than OK with driving me over to Fullerton. At some point during the time down there he began to feel ill and decided we better head back home. After we got home he became progressively worse. The next day he could barely get out of bed. My mom became very worried about his condition and called a "traveling" doctor for a home visit. All he could do was take my dads blood pressure, his temperature and then gave his some sort of injection in the rear end, all the while saying "oh yea he's got the Hong Kong flu real good!".

After the doctor left my parents house I suddenly realized "oh crap, mom and I are going to get it too!!!". I had visions of the doctor coming back over to give me a shot in the butt. But strangely neither my mom or I ever got sick...

Allen

Posted from Android



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/25/20 14:15 by bradleymckay.

perhaps your dad did't get enough rest like a lot of rr's

And the real question is what the heck kind of shot did the doc administer? Another ill use of antibiotics? You think rest helps? I remember my buddy Dave when the
Elko sub was going nuts, too few crews, farily low mileage limit, he barely had enough time between runs to go to the doctor! UP neded a triage center at the Oak Tree,
and that was just a normal Winter.

Out 

callum_out Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> And the real question is what the heck kind of
> shot did the doc administer? Another ill use of
> antibiotics? You think rest helps? I remember my
> buddy Dave when the
> Elko sub was going nuts, too few crews, farily low
> mileage limit, he barely had enough time between
> runs to go to the doctor! UP neded a triage center
> at the Oak Tree,
> and that was just a normal Winter.
>
> Out 

I was thinking the same thing about the jab.  Antibios are of no use with a virus such as the flu.   When I was a child in the early 1950s  I'd catch a cold and the family doctor,  who made house calls back then,  would come by and give me a penicillin shot with a horse needle.  Which is probably why I developed an allergy (not life threatening though) to that family of antibiotics,  which I still have 70 years later.  Back then these were the new miracle drugs and these old war horse GPs used them for most anything.  Dear Dr Dressel had been a young field doctor in Europe during WW2 and never really changed.  You should see the scar I have from when he stitched up a baseball injury.   Loved the guy though and he was like family to us.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/25/20 16:23 by masterphots.

I had the Hong Kong flu in the military and it was an A** kicker. Worst flu I've ever had so far.

Larry

As a retired RN, I agree with the futility of giving antibiotics for a virus.  Perhaps the medicine was for nausea/vomiting.

AA

Stanford White
Carmel Valley, CA

That mention of a horse needle made me quiver. When I was a kid in the early '60's we lived in Arcadia and the smog could be really bad. My pediatrician thought that I might become an asthmatic, so I starting receiving gamma gobulin shots every 3 months with that huge syringe and horse needle...right in the hip!! Damn that really hurt (I was only 5 at the time). I developed a fear of going to the doctor after that, BUT to this day I've never developed asthma. However those damn shots never helped me when hayfever season came around every year...



Allen

Posted from Android



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/20 00:09 by bradleymckay.

gamma goblin? I remember my dad (who was in Special Forces) telling me that that stuff with the big needle was a requirement before going overseas to Vietnam.

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com



bradleymckay Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
 My
> pediatrician thought that I might become an
> asthmatic, so I starting receiving gamma goblin
> shots every 3 months with that huge syringe and
> horse needle...right in the hip!! Damn that really
> hurt (I was only 5 at the time). 

returning vets brought the flu with them, 1 million people died from the flu in asia chiefly i read, billion got sick, will see how 2020 compares

My family doc was a neighbor.  AND, he was also the local SP&S physician.

One of his "prescriptions" was for me to spend a day riding in the cab of an SP&S pile driver working the Oregon Electric line south of Salem, OR .

Best doc ever!

Greg Stadter
Phoenix, AZ