Feinberg Perspectives

In 1918, the Spanish Flu infected one-third of the world's population, killing an estimated 20 to 50 million people. Dr. Kara Goldman's grandmother was one of the lucky ones who contracted the disease and survived. Dr. Goldman is an assistant professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Read from her grandmother's old house, Dr. Goldman recalls her grandmother's story of the white scarf tied to the front door, a signal warning the community of the virus residing within, reminding us to take a lesson from previous generations and look out for one another during the coronavirus pandemic.   An original version of this essay first appeared in Stat News in March 2020.