As Australian authorities battle to contain the latest coronavirus outbreak, health experts and historians have turned to the history pages for insights into how the nation reacted to a similar viral outbreak over 100 years ago.

Pneumonic influenza, or the Spanish flu, infected around 40 per cent of the population when it spread to Australia from the WWI battlefields of Western Europe in 1919.

Around 15,000 people were killed, but strict public health initiatives including quarantine camps, the compulsory wearing of face masks, and the banning of public events slowed the spread and severity of the outbreak.

As residents are urged to stop shaking hands and panic buying hits supermarkets across the country, experts have uncovered a series of striking similarities from more than a century ago.

Similarities across a century

Just as in 2020, the catalyst for the spread of Spanish flu was global travel as soldiers returned home from The Great War.

As the virus edged towards a war-weary Australia in 1918, the federal government mounted a joint response with the states and territories.

While the science of pandemics were not fully understood at the time, health authorities knew that isolation was important in preventing infection.

A naval quarantine program intercepted ships before they reached the mainland, and states closed their borders.

They also established quarantine camps, banned mass gatherings, and initiated public health initiatives like the compulsory wearing of face masks.

Despite these efforts, the first case occurred in Melbourne in early 1919.

NSW in 1919 implemented some of the strictest forms of health initiatives such as quarantine, the mandatory use of face masks, and a ban on public events. ( Supplied: State Archives and Records NSW )

As a result, Sydney's Royal Easter Show — the largest ticketed event in the Southern Hemisphere — was cancelled.

Australian National Museum curator Libby Stewart said some of the responses show uncanny comparisons to the present day.

"Face masks became a fashion statement, like today. People were doing exactly the same thing 100 years ago," she said.

"Women would put a veil extension on their mask that would go down their faces.

"People took strange pills and potions that were advertised. They really grabbed onto anything that they thought might help them."

There is little evidence of panic buying in 1919, but a letter from a Sydney resident published in the Observer newspaper revealed a shortage of other essential services.

"At one period ambulances, coffins, and funeral conveyances were unprocurable," the article read.

Face masks, here donned in London, became a fashion statement during the 1919 pandemic just like during the coronavirus outbreak. ( Reuters: Henry Nicholls )

After feeling ill, the writer noted they were advised by a doctor to "adopt a milk diet", have a weak vinegar sponge bath twice a day, and place ice in their mouth.

"I am inclined to think that panic has a lot to do with the whole business," they wrote.

"People allow themselves to become agitated and worked-up until they develop a temperature. Then they are susceptible to influenza, pneumonia, or anything else that comes along."

The Spanish Flu was spread around the world by returning WWI soldiers, eventually claiming around 50 million lives. ( Supplied: National Library of Australia )

Ms Stewart said media of the day played a role in adding to the anxiety by sensationalising the outbreak.

"The media whipped up fear with alarmist headlines about what could happen so people were very worried," she said.

After government scientists developed a rudimentary vaccine to treat deadly secondary bacterial infections, inoculation parties were held where people would receive a preventative jab.

Lessons for today

The outbreak lasted until the end of 1919 as the rate of cases slowed.

By the end of the year, 40 per cent of the nation's 5 million citizens had been infected, and 15,000 people had died.

Despite the large number of fatalities, Ms Stewart the they would have been greater if not for the comprehensive response from governments and the cooperation of residents.

"The importance of washing hands and good hygiene was really rammed home in those years," she said.

"The general population did listen to the instructions and did adhere to restrictions on movement. And that is happening today as well."

Young men sleep in Adelaide's Jubilee Oval grandstands while being quarantined during the Spanish flu outbreak. ( Supplied: State Library of SA )

Academic virologist Lisa Sedger from the University of Technology Sydney said the Spanish flu also taught the world about the value of vaccines.

"A number of really significant medical lessons were learnt that benefited [a response to] not just respiratory diseases but all sorts of viral infections," she said.

"You could argue that it was the advent of vaccination for infectious diseases."

Better prepared

While there are many similarities in the public's response to the Spanish flu, Dr Sedger said the medical world is far better equipped in 2020.

Brisbane nurses embraced new precautions such as masks in 1919, a responses still adopted in infectious medicine today. ( Supplied: State Library of Queensland )

"Things happen much more quickly now. Where once it took a year to understand a virus, that now happens within weeks or months," she said.

"The main thing we have learned is that viruses evolve very quickly and so advice continues to change, and people should have confidence in that."

Despite a return to similar levels of anxiety, the Royal Agricultural Society is confident that this year's Royal Easter Show — the very same event cancelled 101 years ago due to Spanish flu — will go on.

"Like any major event, we are taking direction and advice, and working closely with NSW Health and other relevant authorities to remain updated and prepared," a spokeswoman said.

"The health and safety of our patrons and visitors will always be paramount across all aspects of the show, [but] there are no changes to our plans. The show will go on."

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