At the end of February 1957, the WHO announced that a highly contagious flu epidemic was raging in China, where hundreds of thousands of people had fallen ill. This flu then spreads with furious speed over the rest of the world and becomes known as the Asian flu. The main purpose of the essay is to use a qualitative content analysis to investigate and compare how the Asian flu pandemic was portrayed in the Swedish newspapers Norrskensflamman and Dagens Nyheter at its outbreak in 1957. The reason why these two newspapers have been chosen is due to their differences in quantity, political tendency and their geographical locations. Both dailies have also been available digitally. Based on own investigations in the thesis, as well as research on previous epidemics that have affected Sweden, three themes have been identified; panic, vaccines and societal change. These are a starting point for seeking answers to what the portrayal looks like, what differences there are between the newspapers and whether Norrbotten is affected in a different way compared to the rest of Sweden. The articles on the Asian flu that have been investigated have been located in the two newspapers and compared in relation to each other. The essay shows both similarities and differences in the newspapers' reporting of the Asian flu, where the most prominent are the panic aspects. Together, both newspapers report a much lower death toll from the flu than the actual one, but differ in how much responsibility they take to prevent public panic, for example through word choice. Their early reporting on the work with vaccines also helps to calm and convey that the situation is under control. On the other hand, the content of the articles changes quickly when it is clear that the infection is raging in Sweden. Information in the newspapers regarding societal changes is sparse and there are few indications that they are permanent.There are no clear indications that Norrbotten was hit much harder by the Asian flu than the rest of Sweden, quite the opposite.

This thesis describes how a solution can be built to detect human flu-like symptoms. Flu-like symptoms are important to detect to prevent Covid-19 [6]. As people are returning to work there is a need for a simple way of detecting flu-like symptoms to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Other than a solution, this thesis concluded how human flu-like symptoms can be detected, with cameras specifically. This is to know what symptoms are most likely to work for a prototype. The technique of cameras and thermal cameras made this project possible as well as the technique of a single-board computer. The technique of cloud-based services is also an important part of this project. This project has resulted in a novel prototype using a single-board computer, cameras, and various cloud-based services to detect and inform a person if he or she has a human flu-like symptom.

The purpose of this thesis is to find out how a hundred and its public healthcare system managed the 1918 flu pandemic, with Näs hundred as a case study. Relevant information is found using archived copies of the provincial physician's sent letters, editions of the local newspaper, and death-and-funeral books. Such information includes mortality statistics, which measures were taken, which role the private sector had, and if there was any change within the public healthcare system. The study finds that the Spanish flu stood out from other illnesses and the general state of health. At its culmination in October, hundreds were sick and private workplaces were short of staff. The mortality rate seems to have been around 0.49% of the population, which is a reasonable rate in comparison to other case studies. When the epidemic was at its height, the authorities closed schools and prohibited events that attracted larger masses of people. This was announced through the local newspaper, alongside urges for the people to avoid crowding. Within the public healthcare system, there were no extensive changes, except an increase in workdays, a higher salary and a decrease in the number of nurses. There was a discussion on who should be allowed to be cared for in the epidemic hospital, as this hospital, according to routine, did not care for people with influenza or people from outside the central locality. There is no evidence on how this turned out, but some information seems to suggest that the hospital, or at least the epidemic nurse, did get to care for people with influenza. Nonetheless, it is clear that the public healthcare system could not manage the epidemic, and that the majority of people had to be treated in their homes by a relative or an ambulating nurse. When it comes to actions taken by the private sector, charity funding for the victims is the sole provable action. In contrast to other case studies, there is no evidence of private healthcare or charity organizations that would have cooperated with the public healthcare system. This charity, as well as those measures taken by the authorities, can be seen as consequences of a so-called institutional weakening, which itself would be a consequence of the epidemic outbreak. The outbreak showed that the public healthcare system could not handle an epidemic of this size, which in turn made established routines obsolete, showed that there were holes in the system and legitimized interventions made by the authorities. As a consequence, the aforementioned measures were taken to inhibit the spread of the epidemic and to care for the sick. / Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur ett härad och dess sjukvårdsorganisation klarade av 1918 års influensapandemi, med Näs härad som fallstudie. Relevant information hittades genom att granska provinsialläkarens konceptböcker, nummer av Säffle-Tidningen och död- och begravningsböcker från tiden. Sådan information inkluderar hur sjukan utmärkte sig som bidragande faktor till det allmänna hälsoläget, vilka åtgärder som vidtogs som reaktion av epidemin och ifall någon förändring i sjukvårdens organisation skedde till följd av spanska sjukan. Uppsatsen kommer fram till att spanska sjukan stod ut från övriga sjukdomar och det allmänna hälsoläget. Vid kulmen i oktober var hundratals insjuknade och arbetsplatser hade brist på personal. Dödstalet låg på runt 0,49% av befolkningen, vilket är ett rimligt tal i jämförelse med tidigare forskning. När epidemin var som mest utbredd stängde myndigheterna skolor, biografer och liknande tillställningar som drog till sig större folkmassor. Detta utannonserades i Säffle-Tidningen, samtidigt som de uppmanade folk att hålla distans till sjuka och undvika trängsel. Inom sjukvården kom inga större förändringar, utan främst utökade arbetstider, höjd lön och en minskning i antal sköterskor. En diskussion fanns dock kring vilka som skulle få vårdas i epidemisjukhuset, som enligt rutin inte tog emot folk sjuka av influensa eller folk utanför den centrala köpingen. Det går inte att belägga hur detta kom att se ut, men en del tyder på att epidemisjukhuset, eller åtminstone epidemisjuksköterskan, trotts allt kom att vårda folk sjuka i influensa. Oavsett är det klart att sjukvården inte hade beredskap nog att hantera sjukan, och att majoriteten av de sjuka fick vårdas i hemmet av anhörig eller kringvandrande sjuksköterska. Av vad man kan belägga med det givna källmaterialet är en välgörenhetsfond åt de utsatta det närmsta man kommer vad gäller reaktioner från privat sektor. Till skillnad från fallstudier i tidigare forskning finns inget bevis på att privat vård eller välgörenhetsorganisationer kom att samarbeta med sjukvården. Oavsett kan detta, samt de åtgärder och förändringar som vidtogs av myndigheterna, ses som ha kommit till följd av en institutionell försvagning, som i sig var en följd av det epidemiska utbrottet. Epidemin påvisade nämligen att sjukvården och samhället inte kunde hantera en så stor mängd sjuka, vilket gjorde att rutiner blev obsoleta, att hål i systemet uppenbarades, och interventioner kunde legitimeras av myndigheterna. Som följd vidtogs ovannämnda åtgärder för att försöka hämma epidemins spridning och vårda de sjuka.