Encephalitis Lethargica: The Mysterious Sandman Pandemic Really Happened

The long-awaited adaptation of Sandman is now available on Netflix and one of the mysteries present in the series is the sleeping sickness that affects humanity after the events of the first episode. In the plot, the disease is explained as a consequence of the imprisonment of the Lord of Dreams, Morpheus, in 1916. However, this fact is not the result of the pure creativity of the creator of the story, Neil Gaiman.

The inspiration actually came from a curious sleep epidemic that hit the world at the same time portrayed at the beginning of the story. discovered by Constantin von Economo, encephalitis lethargica affected about six million people, being responsible for the death of at least one million of them. Check out details of this true story that ended up inspiring such an important passage in the narrative of Sandman da Netflix.

The Mysterious Epidemic in The Sandman

Em T, the viewer follows the protagonist's narration about the sleep disorder that affects millions of people after his imprisonment on Earth. This sleeping sickness arises after the dream lord is imprisoned by Roderick Burgess and is confined for over 100 years, causing people to be unable to wake up.

Despite being present in recent work, this was not the first time that the disease was portrayed in a work of fiction. In 1973, the story inspired author Oliver Sacks to investigate the health condition in the book “Awakenings” and, after a few years, the work won a film adaptation called “Awakenings”, from 1990.

But what exactly is encephalitis lethargica?

Encephalitis lethargica, also known as the "sleeping sickness", emerged in the midst of the First World War, between the end of 1916 and the beginning of 1917. At the time, information was reported about a disabling disease that affected many people around the world. in a mysterious way. Its origin was not known, but the symptoms included fever, physical weakness, and drowsiness that soon developed into loss of movement and varying degrees of consciousness.

The main symptom, according to reports at the time, was physical abandonment in a deep sleep from which people rarely woke up. The name of encephalitis lethargica was given about four years later, in 1920, by doctors who, even without understanding the causes, discovered that it was an inflammation of the brain.

The set of symptoms had already been described several times in the past, including by Hippocrates, the great physician of Ancient Greece, who baptized the phenomenon of lethargus. "Fever, tremor, severe physical weakness with preservation of intelligence, which affects people over 25 years of age, especially when it is cold, and which can lead to death from terminal pneumonia".

It is estimated that about six million people may have been victims of encephalitis lethargica, in which more than a million died, and more than four million remained in a catatonic state. The only certainty we have about the disease is that it ended in 1927 for no apparent reason. However, unlike the Sandman Unity character Kincaid, few were able to go on with a normal life after waking up.

Some people improved greatly after treatment, but the miracle cure was short-lived and eventually died. Another part of the patients returned to a catatonic state for days or even weeks, becoming permanent patients of medical institutions. Due to the lack of clinical documentation at the time, it is not known exactly what treatments were tried on these people, much less in what ways they were cared for.

The sad story is that, by remaining for years and even decades in this state of deep drowsiness, many of these patients were abandoned by family members in hospitals at the time. In addition, although there are not many reports dated at the time, cases of abuse may have been committed while the sick remained unconscious.

Since 1927, rare cases of encephalitis lethargica have been reported around the world. Experts believe that the fact that we have few new cases is due to the virus being dormant, and they hope it stays that way.

The “Awakenings” of the 1960s

More than 30 years after the disease disappeared, many patients were still in the same state as before. It was at this time, more precisely in the late 60s, that physician Oliver Sacks found a ward in a New York hospital with more than 80 patients diagnosed decades earlier with encephalitis.

The then neurologist became interested in the cases, until then little known to medicine, and decided to try treatments with new drugs. Initially, his experiments had surprising results and most patients in more serious conditions regained their physical and mental control. Shortly thereafter, however, the patients eventually returned to lethargy.

Despite not having been successful in the treatment, Sacks' experience is considered one of the most important for medicine, as it allowed for a much greater understanding of the disease. Sacks recorded his findings in the book Awakening, the first official and comprehensive clinical record on encephalitis lethargica that has aroused more curiosity and research on the disease over the decades.

The book written by the doctor was even used for the production of the film wake up time, starring Robin Williams and Robert De Niro, released in 1990 and which received three Oscar nominations that same year.

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Source: BBC.