Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-01-31
A Rich Harvest for Pretended
Doctors the Result of
LOndon's Grip.
THE DISEASE DECLINING,
But Its Ravages Have Scared Every
body Nearly to Death.
TORIES on THE ANXIOUS SEAT.
They Give Up Lots of Good Money for
Their Exeter Meeting.
MANY LONDON TRADESMEN IN TROUBLE
rBY CABLE TO THE DISPATCH. ]

rBY CABLE TO THE DIsPATCH.l
LONDON, Jan. 3O-[Copyright.l THE
public alarm caused by the continued
spread Of influenza has almost grown into q
panic and there is no doubt that if anv ac-
cessible country free from the disease could
be found in Europe, everybody who could
afford to travel would flock thither. This
is due in large measure to popular misap-
prehension encouraged by some ignorant
newspaper scribblers.
In the figures given in the Registrar Gen
erals return, issued last Tuesday, it was
stated that during the previous week the
annual rate of mortality per 1000 living
was 46 in London, which thereupon the
Daily Telegraph, falling into the common
error that this meant that 46 persons in
every thousand had died in one week, ex-
pressed fear that the influenza would "pass
the bounds of an epidemic and attain the
dimensions of an unknown and dreadful
plague"
One Victim in Every s,4e6 Londoners.
As matter of fact, SOC deaths were re-
corded last week as primarily due to in
fuenza, and as the estimated population of
tality was actually in s, ,426, or, taking the
deaths from all causes, l in 1,133 But as
this is more than double the average, pessi-
mists naturally refuse to be comforted.
Pending the appointment of the commits
sion on influenza the British Medical Journal
has been collecting information which has
more than local interest. The medical
officers of health throughout England, who
are Government officers, were asked to state
whether, in their opinion, influenza is in
fectious, and whether it can be brought
within the provisions of various acts of Par
hameEt, compelling notification to the
public authorities, isolation, etc.
Influenza Generally Called Infections.
With regard to the first of these points,
Of 43 medical officers who express an opin-
ion all but three have no doubt that influ-
enza is infectious, and is conveyed directly
from person to person. Several believe it
can he transmitted by clothes, etc. The
majority of these experts also hold that
personal communication alone is insufficient
TO explain the rapidity and wide extent of
ITS diffusion, and believe that the poison
may be carried to considerable distance
through the air. The degree of infectious
ness varies according to the individual,
weakly persons and ESPECIALLY those whose
lungs are delicate being particularly liable
to it.
The disease is most infectious in the
early stage. The incubation period is short
or from two to three days to a week, at
most.
Law-Making on the Grip.
With regard to legislative measures,
while almost ali of the medical officers of
health hold influenza to be dangerous, in
fectious disorder, within the meaning of the
act, the majority do not think the addition
of it to the list of notifable diseases would
be of much use, the early cases being al
most certain to escape Identification, owing
10 the indefniteness of the symptoms and
the expense of notification during an cpl
mic being enormous. Notification, they agree,
is useless without compulsory isolation, and
at present the public mind is not prepared
for such step, and the sanitary authorities
could not provide anything like the neces-
sary accommodation.
OF the few who think influenza could be
brought within the range of legislative en-
actment, only one or two think that such q
measure would be advisable.
Education on the Subject.
The only measures which the medical
officers of health think could be effectively
taken by the public authorities are the
issue of instructions to the public as to the
avoidance of exposure to infection, to cold,
fatigue and other depressing agencies; the
isolation of patients as far as possible in
their own homes; great care during the i'll
ness and especially during convalescence,
and attention to the sanitation of dwellings
and surroundings.
In many districts the sanitary authorities
are now doing useful work on the lines sug-
gested by the medical officers of health, and
charitable agencies are looking after the
poorer sufferers
There are signs that the epidemic is abat-
ing; and if these be confirmed by the
Registrar Generals next return the panic
will subside. For the moment, however,
the croaklng of the pessimists prevails, and |
the quacks are getting rich.
Cambridge University Has to Close.
1t Is probable, in view of the ravages of |
influenza, that Cambridge University will be |
closed and undergraduates at the various |
colleges will be sent down. A don and an |
undergraduate have died at St. Johns Col |
lege this week, and this has apparently
determined the authorities to act.
On the continent the malady still mani
tests itself, though in Italy its virulence has
considerably sbated.
1t is significant that the present epidemic
has in many districts proved more dis.
sstrous than the last cholera snidem;o