Here's what I found on the treatment of the flu epidemic of 1918. I could have merely added the link, but thought it interesting enough to highlight the materials used.
Treatment and Therapy
The therapeutic remedies for influenza patients
varied from the newly developed drugs to oils and herbs. The therapy was much less scientific than the
diagnostics , as the drugs had no clear explanatory theory of action. The treatment was largely symptomatic, aiming to reduce fever or pain
. Aspirin, or acetylsalicylic acid was a common remedy. For secondary pneumonia doses of
epinephrin were given. To combat the cyanosis (blue or purple discoloration of the skin caused by lack of oxygen) physicians
gave oxygen by mask or some injected it under the skin (JAMA, 10/3/1918).
Others used
salicin which reduced pain, discomfort and fever and claimed to reduce the infectivity of the patient. Another popular remedy was
cinnamon in powder or oil form with milk to reduce temperature (BMJ, 10/19/1918). Finally,
salt of quinine was suggested as a treatment. Most physicians agreed that the patient should be kept in bed (BMJ, 7/13/1918). With that was the advice of
plenty of fluids and nourishment. The application of
cold to the head, with
warm packs or warm drinks was also advised.
Warm baths were used as a hydrotherapeutic method in hospitals but were discarded for lack of success (JAMA, 10/3/1918). These treatments, like the suggested
prophylactic measures of the public health officials, seemed to originate in the common social practices and not in the growing field of scientific medicine. It seems that as science was entering the medical field, it served only for explanatory, diagnostic and preventative measures such as vaccines and technical tests. This science had little use once a person was ill.
However, a few proposed treatment did incorporate scientific ideas of germ theory and the immune system. O'Malley and Hartman suggested to treat influenza patients with
the serum of convalescent patients. They utilize the theorized antibodies to boost the immune system of sick patients. Other treatments were
"digitalis," the administration of
isotonic glucose and sodium bicarbonate intravenously which was done in military camps (JAMA, 1/4/1919).