Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1913-05-18
INFLUENZA IS NOT
HARMLESS DISEASE
Real Old Grip May Have Many
Dangerous Complications
Says Georgia State Board
of Health.

CoiHmOHly called La grippe or just
plain old grip" went around the
world in 18S9-9O, many were inclined
to look upon it as a harmless kind OF
fashionable disease, a viewpoint that
was speedily changed in those oca-
lities where hospitals became charnel
houses, though this reputation chung
to it more or less strenuously for
| some years
| But its dangerous qualities have
| long since become we'll known as
| result of the numerous and serious
complications which may attend it;
in fact, there is scarcely any organ of
| the body which is immune from the
effects of it. And although it now ap-
pears in milder form in the sporadic
or epidemic cases than in the pande-
mic invasion which went around the
world, it is particularly severe and
dangerous, says the Georgia State
Board OF Health, for old persons, and
| for persons who are debilitated or
weak, persons given to alcoholic IL
! quors, those who are too fat and
those suffering from heart and lung
| troubles.
influenza is an acute infectious disc
ase caused by what is known as the
bacillus of Pfeiffer, after the name
of it's discoverer in 1892. 1t may be
communicated either by association
with persons affected or through in
halations in sections where 1t is or
has been prevalent. 1t has been known
to be contracted at sea where there
was no existing case, lending color
to the belief that the germ travels
through the air. 1t occurs either in
isolated cases, in epidemics or pan
denies.
Travels Around the World.
During the last century there were
four periods during which practically
| every country in the world suffered
from the unusual prevalence of this
disease. The last pandemic occurred
in 1889-91. 1t started in Russia and
soon spread to Germany and Eng
land. Later it appeared in New York
and rapidly spread over North Ameri-
ca. Soon practically the entire civil
lied world was affected Since that
| time influenza has been constantly
! present in the United States, but in
milder form
| Influenza is one of the medical
goats and not infrequently the in
ciptent stages of tuberculosis, malaria,
| liberated endocarditis and typhoid fe-
yer are mistaken for it,
Grip may develop very suddenly,
| as rule in one to seven days The
! germs gaining entrance to the res
piratory tract, multiply very rapidly
! All ages are susceptible to the disc
ase, though infants under one year
old are seldom attacked. The great
| est prevalence of the disease is dur
ing the winter and spring a deficiency
of sunlight seems favorable to the
! growth of the germs. One attack does
not confer immunity but seems to
! predlspose to others, though subse-
quent attacks are not usually as Sc
! we're. The danger lies not so much in
| the disease itself as in the compiled.
| lions which it may induce. Frequent
| ly 1t predlsposeS one to an attack of
tuberculosis it may set in action
! tubeIcular gaEms which have been Iy.
! ing dormant A frequent accompanl
| ment of influenza is influenza-pneu.
monla, differing from ordinary pneu-.
monia in that 1t rarely terminates in
crisis, usually dragging on for
weeks. Other complications are con-
geStion of the Kidneys and other or
gans, diseases of the heart and blood
fections of the nervous system.
Symptoms of Influenza.
Grip may come on very suddenly,
noticed first in chilly sensations 1ol-
lowed by a fever which may reach
l05 degrees, loss Of appetite, head
ache, pain in the limbs and then
sense of utter wretchedneSs. LaSsi-
tude, cough, insomnia and a flush
ing Of parts of the face as in scarla-
tina, may accompany it. The patient
feels and seems desperately i'll. Bron-
chltls frequently deve.O ops accompan-
led by pains in the chest, and may
be followed by pneumonia. he pa
tlent becomes profoundly depressed,
the heart action may be feeble, the
SKIN leaked and clammy, hot and
dry. Pneumonia and heart allure
are the most frequent causes of
death following an attack of lnnuenZa.
Meningitis, a particularly danger
Gus complication, may also be caused
by the influenza bacillus. Nervous
forms OF the disease are quite COM
mon, varying all the way from simple
restlessness To paralysis and insan-
ity. OF $4,000 cases analysed by Lee,
1000 were of a nervous type,
Influenza being highly contagious,
ii is of great importance that pc. sons
suffering from it should be isolated,
and all precautions taken to prevent
| its spread The patient should have
| separate dishes which should be
washed in boiling water each time
they are used All linen and body
| clothing used by the patient should
| be thoroughly boiled or soaked in a
| five per cent. solution of carbolic
acid before being sent to the laundry.
| AS to treatment the most important
| thing to empasize is that the patient
should be treated by a competent
! physician. Even in the milder cases
the patient should go to bed, as rest
is the best possible treatment for
! the disease. There is no specific
remedy for influenza Many drugs
have been used often with good eff
| feet; at other times with varying de-
grees of success but these should
olmayq ha admin arad under tho