U.S. Public Health
Service Issues Official Health Bulletin on Influenza. . . Latest Word on
Subject. . . Epidemic Probably Not Spanish in Origin. . . Germ Still Unknown. .
. People Should Guard Against “Droplet Infection”. . . Surgeon General Blue
Makes Authoritative Statement
Washington, D.C. (Special)—Although King Alphonso of Spain
was one of the victims of the influenza epidemic in 1893 and again this summer,
Spanish authorities repudiate any claim to influenza as a “Spanish” disease. If
the people of this country do not take care, the epidemic will become so
widespread throughout the United States that soon we shall hear the disease
called “American” influenza.
In response to a request for definite information concerning
Spanish influenza, Surgeon General Rupert Blue of the U.S. Public Health
Service has authorized the following official interview:
What is Spanish
influenza? Is it something new? Does it come from Spain?
The disease now occurring in this country and called
‘Spanish Influenza‘ resembles a very contagious kind of ‘cold’ accompanied by
fever, pains in the head, eyes, ears, back or other parts of the body and a
feeling of severe sickness. In most of the cases the symptoms disappear after
three or four days, the patient then rapidly recovering. Some of the patients,
however, develop pneumonia, or inflammation of the ear, or meningitis, and many
of these complicated cases die. Whether this so-called ‘Spanish’ influenza is
identical with the epidemics of influenza of earlier years is not yet known.
“Epidemics of influenza have visited this country since
1647. It is interesting to know that this first epidemic was brought here from
Valencia, Spain. Since that time there have been numerous epidemics of the
disease. In 1889 and 1890 an epidemic of influenza, starting somewhere in the
Orient, spread first to Russia and thence over practically the entire civilized
world. Three years later there was another flare-up of the disease. Both times
the epidemic spread widely over the United States.
Although the present epidemic is called “Spanish influenza,”
there is no reason to believe that it originated in Spain. Some writers who
have studied the question believe that the epidemic came from the Orient and
they call attention to the fact that the Germans mentioned the disease as
occurring along the eastern front in the summer and fall of 1917.
How can “Spanish
influenza” be recognized?
There is as yet no certain way in which a single case of
Spanish influenza can be recognized. On the other hand, recognition is easy
where there is a group of cases. In contrast to the outbreaks of ordinary
coughs and colds, which usually occur in the cold months, epidemics of
influenza may occur at any season of the year. Thus the present epidemic raged
most intensely in Europe in May, June and July. Moreover, in the case of
ordinary colds, the general symptoms (fever, pain, depression) are by no means
as severe or as sudden in their onset as they are in influenza. Finally,
ordinary colds do not spread through the community so rapidly or so extensively
as does influenza.
In most cases a person taken sick with influenza feels sick
rather suddenly. He feels weak, has pains in the eyes, ears, head or back, and
may feel sore all over. Many patients feel dizzy, some vomit. Most of the
patients complain of feeling chilly, and with this comes a fever in which the
temperature rises to 100 to 104. In most cases the pulse remains relatively
slow.
In appearance one is struck by the fact that the patient
looks sick. His eyes and the inner side of his eyelids may be slightly
‘bloodshot,’ or ‘congested’ as the doctors say. There may be running from the
nose or there may be some cough. These signs of a cold may not be marked;
nevertheless the patient looks and feels very sick.
In addition to the appearance and the symptoms as already
described, examination of the patient’s blood may aid the physician in
recognizing ‘Spanish influenza,’ for it has been found that in this disease the
number of white corpuscles shows little or no increase above the normal. It is
possible that that laboratory investigations now being made through the
National Research Council and the U.S. Hygienic Laboratory will furnish a more
certain way in which individual cases of this disease can be recognized.
What is the course of
the disease? Do people die of it?
Ordinarily, the fever lasts from three to four days and the
patient recovers. But while the proportion of deaths in the present epidemic
has generally been low, in some places the outbreak has been severe and deaths
have been numerous. When death occurs, it is usually the result of a
complication.
What causes the
disease and how is it spread?
Bacteriologists who have studied influenza epidemics in the
past have fund in many of the cases a very small rod-shaped germ called, after
its discoverer, Pfeiffer’s bacillus. In other cases of apparently the same
disease there were found pneumococci, the germs of lobar pneumonia. Still
others have been caused by streptococci, and by other germs with long names.
No matter what particular kind of germ causes the epidemic,
it is now believed that influenza is always spread from person to person, the
germs being carried with the air along with the very small droplets of mucus,
expelled by coughing or sneezing, forceful talking, and the like by one who
already has the germs of the disease. They may also be carried about in the air
in the form of dust coming from dried mucus, from coughing and sneezing, or
from careless people who spit on the floor and on the sidewalk. As in most
other catching diseases, a person who has only a mild attack of the disease
himself may give a very severe attack to others.
What should be done
by those who catch the disease?
It is very important that every person who becomes sick with
influenza should go home at once and go to bed. This will help keep away
dangerous complications and will, at the same time, keep the patient from
scattering the disease far and wide. It is highly desirable that no one be
allowed to sleep in the same room with the patient. In fact, no one but the
nurse should be allowed in the room.
If there is cough and sputum or running of the eyes and
nose, care should be taken that all such discharged are collected on bits of
gauze or rag or paper napkins, and burned. If the patient complains of fever
and headache, he should be given water to drink, a cold compress to the
forehead and a light sponge. Only such medicine should be given as prescribed by
the doctor. It is foolish to ask the druggist to prescribe and may be dangerous
to take the sol-called ‘safe, sure and harmless’ remedies advertised by patent
medicine manufacturers.
If the patient is so situated that he can be attended only
by some one how must also look after others in the family, it is advisable that
such attendant wear a wrapper, apron or gown over the ordinary house clothes
while in the sick room and slip this off when leaving to look after the others.
Nurses and attendants will do well to guard against
breathing in dangerous disease germs by wearing a simple fold of gauze or mask
while near the patient.
Will a person who has
had influenza before catch the disease again?
It is well known that an attack of measles or scarlet fever
or smallpox usually protects a person against another attack of the same
disease. This appears not to be true of ‘Spanish influenza.’ According to
newspaper reports the King of Spain suffered an attack of influenza during the
epidemic 30 years ago, and was again stricken during the recent outbreak in
Spain.
How can one guard
against influenza?
In guarding against disease of all kinds, it is important
that the body be kept strong and able to fight off disease germs. This can be
done by having a proper proportion of work, play and rest, by keeping the body
well clothed, and by eating sufficient wholesome and properly selected food. In
connection with diet, it is well to remember that mil is one of the best
all-around foods obtainable for adults as well as children. So far as a disease
like influenza, health authorities everywhere recognize the very close relation
between its spread and overcrowded homes. While it is not always possible,
especially in times like the present, to avoid such over crowding, people
should consider the health danger and make every effort to reduce the home
overcrowding to a minimum. The value of fresh air through open windows cannot
be over emphasized.
When crowding is unavoidable, as in street cars, care should
be taken to keep the face so turned as not to inhale directly the air breathed
out by another person.
It is especially important to beware of the person who
coughs or sneezes without covering his mouth and nose. It also follows that one
should keep out of crowds and stuffy places as much as possible, keep homes,
offices and workshops well aired, spend some time out of doors each day, walk
to work if at all practicable—in short, make every possible effort to breathe
as much pure air as possible.
In all health matters follow the advice of your doctor and
obey the regulations of your local and state health officers.
“Cover up each cough and sneeze,
If you don’t you’ll spread disease.”
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