State Cannot Provide Whiskey for Medicine to Fight Flu; Says Sunshine is Better, Feb. 7, 1920

From the Hickory Daily Record, February 7, 1920

Sunshine Best for Influenza

Raleigh, Feb. 7—Sunshine is a more efficient remedy for influenza than whiskey—and is much cheaper—in the opinion of officials of the state board of health, who have received numerous requests recently asking that writers in different sections of the state be furnished the “Open sesame” through which they can secure a little whiskey for use in treating cases of the flu. And the doctors do not mean to assume a joking attitude towards these requests when they say that sunshine is a better remedy than whiskey.

All the requests yet for ways of means of getting whiskey have been answered with the information that the state board of health does not know of any way to get whiskey in this prohibition state. 

Likewise they have pointed out to the people making the inquiry that the American Medical Association, composed of the most reputable physicians in the country, have gone on record saying that whiskey is not considered a medicine, and is no medical need that cannot and will not be met by other remedies. One of the doctors in authority for the statement that he watched two physicians during the last epidemic. One used whiskey in the treatment of the flu and the other did not. Both doctors treated about the same number of cases. The mortality rate among cases of the doctor who used whiskey was a little greater than among those of the doctor who got along without whiskey.

And there is no joke about sunshine being good for the flu, according to the doctor. Therefore they were feeling much better about the situation in the state than they have been when they found the sunshine this morning. The reports coming in justify the faith of the doctors, for whereas the noon reports on yesterday showed 1,600 cases, there were but 1,399 in the reports received up to noon today; 460 of these came from Winston-Salem which was the largest report that city has yet turned in. The majority of these cases, however, are not dangerous and only five cases of pneumonia have been reported from the city during the past 24 hours.

In all there were 38 cases of new pneumonia cases reported and eight deaths were reported as having occurred since the last report.