March 2009

Calif. event focused on 1918 flu pandemic

Don Harte, DC, editor of the popular newsletter "The Harte of Chiropractic," held a special event called "One Flu over the Duck's Nest" at his Corte Madera office, across the bay from San Francisco.

The event celebrated Dr. Harte's 27 years in practice and the 90th anniversary of the Great Flu Pandemic of 1918, which killed between 25 and 40 million people worldwide, about half a million in the United States.

Harte explained that he "wanted to draw attention to a great achievement that is virtually unknown to a public who thinks that chiropractic is about bad backs."

During the Pandemic, medical doctors in Davenport, Iowa treated 93,590 patients, with 6,116 deaths. At the Palmer College, 1,635 people with flu were adjusted, with only one fatality. Outside of Davenport, Iowa chiropractors adjusted 4,735 flu cases, with only six deaths.

Harte also talked with visitors about the birth of chiropractic on Sept. 18, 1895. "I made it a point that chiropractic did not start with a whiplash or sciatica. It started with a deaf guy who got adjusted, and was able to hear. It started upon a totally new principle," he noted.