Sometimes, even the most fanciful of stories has its share of reality. It is, for example, the case of Sandmanthe recent Netflix series based on the graphic novels of Neil Gaman. It speaks of a dream epidemic, which originates when a magician leaves the Lord of Dreams trapped in the world of the awake. We are sorry to tell you that wizards do not exist. At least not the ones who perform these types of spells. And that the Lord of dreams is called melatonin. Now, despite the large doses of fiction in the plot, if we travel back in history we will find a real case of sleep epidemic which also caused the death of many people.
It happened coinciding with the epidemic of spanish flu, in 1918. However, the cases continued to occur for years, reaching almost the 1930s. Since then, the disease almost disappeared as if by magic and only a few and very rare cases have returned. But what was happening?
Actually, it has nothing to do with Sandman. This dream epidemic was due to a real illness, possibly a infection. Although the agent causing it was not clear at the time and remains unclear today.
The Sleep Epidemic Beyond Sandman
In both the Neil Gaiman story and the Netflix series, a large number of people are shown to fall ill with sleep. Some they sleep for years, others manage to wake up, but to live in a kind of intermediate state, devoid of energy. Many of them die, so the situation is serious. That is what happens in Sandman, but also precisely what happened at the beginning of the 20th century with a disease called encephalitis lethargica.
The first cases were described by the Greek neurologist Constantin von Economein 1917. However, some of the most complete reports come from Oliver Sacksa neurologist and scientific popularizer famous for books like The man who mistook his wife for a hat, in which he told strange stories of patients. According to him, even if they were aware, they were not fully awake. “They sat motionless and speechless all day in their chairs, totally lacking in energy, drive, initiative, motive, appetite, affection, or desire; they recorded what happened to them without active attention and with profound indifference.” They were basically like the living dead. In fact, some ended up dying.
It is estimated that in the years that this sleep epidemic lasted they fell ill more than a million people, of which around 500,000 died. But the survivors did not get rid of the symptoms so easily. Many remained in a state of semi-consciousness, with symptoms similar to those of parkinson’s. Precisely because of the resemblance to this disease, Oliver Sacks himself treated some patients at the end of the 1960s with a drug directed at this disease, L-DOPA. Unfortunately, although at first it seemed that they recovered, the symptoms ended up reappearing.
What was happening?
The disease began with symptoms flu-like: fever, tiredness, headache and sore throat. However, little by little the neurological symptoms began to appear and the patients fell into this very strange lethargic state. For this reason, it was suspected that it was the Spanish flu itself that caused this complication in some patients. In fact, the sleep epidemic started and ended practically at the same time.
However, it was later suspected that it could be due to another virus whose infection would be affecting the brain. possibly a enteroviruses.
In its day it was not possible to obtain a clear answer and over the years it has continued to be investigated, through the analysis of the brain samples of patients that could be preserved. A relatively recent investigation, carried out in 2004, concludes that in fact it might not be a virus causing the infection. In his case they point to a mutation in the genetic material of Streptococcus genus bacteria. Under normal conditions, these would produce only a mild sore throat. However, with the mutation they would trigger an excessive reaction of the immune system, which would kill the bacteria, but would also seriously damage the cells of the nervous system. It is an option, although it is not clear either.
The only thing we can say is that it had nothing to do with spells or the Sandman. But that doesn’t make it any less cryptic. After all, real life also has its mysteries.