Los Angeles daily herald., 1890-01-04
LA GRIPPE.
A Learned Doctor who Seems {
Have the Grip ON II.


Have the Grip ON 1t.
EDITORS HERALD-The grippe, or epi.
demic catsrrn, is also called influenza
and epidemic hoarseness on account OF
the hoarseness which is caused by the
illness. The name "grippe" seems to
come from the word chrypka, which in
the Pole language means hoarseness.
The grippe is general epidemic dis
ease, clinically characterized by catar.
rhal forms diffused especially through
the respiratory organs, with phenomena
generally intense and disproportioned to
those which are always found in the
simple bronchitis, in the laryngitis and in
the corszza (cold in the head
Examining the history of this disease,
we find that the first great epidemic ap-
peared in the year 1880 and spread over
nearly all of Europe. Afterwards it ap-
peared again at short intervals in 1885,
1926, 17l2, 1880, 1873, 1877, until the
last epidemic of 1880 and 1888, and
finally in 1860 at Strasburg.
About the etiology of this disease we
may say that in spite of the studies
which have been made, still it has not
yet been we'll determined, and
seems to be special irritant
microbe existing in the atmosphere.
In fact, instead of following the usual
way of contact of the cholera, the grippe
spreads capriciously, without following
any rule, and at times with such rapidity
as to exclude the possibility of saving It
might have been introduced by the usual
means of communication.
We know that in 1888, with the inter-
val of few days, the epidemic made
successfully it's appearance in Moscow,
then Odessa, Alexandria and Paris, and
that of 1847 in the period of few months
invaded Spain, Newfoundland, New Zea-
land, Valparaiso, Syria, the western
shore of Africa, and it even reached
Hong Kong.
AS this disease spreads especially dur
ing the cold and wet seasons, and some
times under the influence of the north
and northeast winds, some believe the
cause of the disease is to be found in the
sudden changes of the temperature in
relation with the ozone, and Professor
Boekel, in Strasburg, and recently
Sch0nbein, sustained the idea that
an excess of ozone in the air
may act as an irritant of
the respiratory organs, and be
The cause of this epidemic. But they have
found contradictory facts; and as q mat
ter of illustration, how many of such
changes happen during the year
in the several different parts of the
world without being followed by the
grippe!
We shall not give here any special
descriptions of the symptoms which &C.
company the disease, as they are we'll
known and have been fully described by
different writers, and will only say that
although it may indiscriminately strike
avery age, sex and constitution, still it
seems more inclined to attack weak
people, already predisposed or suffering
from bronchial or pulmonary affections.
The grippe can hardly be mistaken for
corizza (cold in the head), laryngitis and
simple bronchitis, because it differs, viz
for the rapid and extensive spreading of
the epidemic and also for the intensity
Of the general nervous phenomena which
in the other already mentioned diseases
have a secondary importance in direct
relation to the local phenomena.
The grippe generally is disease of q
mild character, lasting from five to ten
days, but increases in length and be-
comes dangerous when complicated
with capilar bronchitis. lobular pneu'
monia or gsstro-enteritis, which COM
plications are often found in Europe in
the present epidemic.
will not repeat here what has been
said by others in regard to the cure of
the grippe, only I would insist on the
necessity of a careful consideration of
the general symptoms of nervous pros
tration. DIR. LEoNIDA OLIvIERI.