The leader-enterprise. [volume] (Fitzgerald, Ga.) 1912-1915, 1913-06-20
INFLUENZA IS NOT
HARMLESS DISEASE
Real Old Grip May Have Many
Dangerous Complications
Says Georgia State Board
of Health.

PA"AA OAo 5iAp' WCAI oAOuhO WV
world in 18S9-9O, many were inclined
to look upon 1t as harmless kind OF
fashionable disease, a viewpoint that
was speedily changed in those oca-
Titles where hospitals became charnel
houses, though this reputation chung
to 1t more or less strenuously fol
some years. 5tt, W.
But it's dangerous qualities have
long since become well known as
result of the numerous and serious
complications which may attend 1t;
in fact, there is scarcely any organ OF
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
hose 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
halatons in sections where it is or
has been prevalent. 1t has been known
to be contracted at sea where there
was no existing case, lending color
% the belief that the germ travels
through the air. 1t occurs either In
| isolated cases, in epidemics or pam
1emics.
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 1989-91 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
lized world was affected. Since thai
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
cpient 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
predispose to others, though ssubse-
quent attacks are ffot Usually as Sc:
we're. The danger lies not so much in
the disease itself as in the complica.
ly, it predisposes one to an attack of
tuberculosis: it may set in action
tubercular garms which have been ly.
ing dormant A frequent accompani
mept Of Influenza is inauenza-pneu-
mohia, differing from ordinary pheu-
monia IN that II rarely terminates in
Crisis, usually dragging on for
weeks. Other complications are con.
gestion of the kidneys and other, or:
IF
vessels, diseases of the ear and al
fections of the nervous system.
Symptoms Of Influenza.
Grip may come on very suddenly,
noticed first in chilly sensations fol
lowed by fever which may reach
1O5 degrees, loss Of appetite, head
sense of utter wretchedness. LASH
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 ILL., Bron-
chitis frequently develops accompan-
led by pains in the chest, and may
be followed by pneumonia. The pa
the heart action may be feeble, the
skin relaxed and elammy, hot and
dry. Pneumonia and heart failure
are the most frequent causes of
death following an attack of influenza.
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 nervous type.
Influenza being highly contagious,
it 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 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
always be administered under the
direction of a careful physician.
Warm baths are considered helpful.
and as a general rule severe caution
is given against the use of alcoholic