Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-10-12
COUNTY MEDICS
TELL OF lNFLU
Issue Statement Telling Means OF
Preventing and Curing Span
isL Disease.

Editor The Argus: The Rock Is
land County Medical society in its
meeting Tuesday, decided to ask
The Argus to again call the atten-
ton of the public to the symptoms
OF influenza, the manner in which
il is spread, its prevention and
cure.
The seriousness Of the epidemic
has been shown by the high mortal
ity at the various environments,
therefore it behooves every one to
DO everything possible to prevent
the epidemic from getting the up
per hand in his community.
The direct cause of the disease is
a specific organism or germ which
is spread by direct contact and by
the presence of germs in the little
droplets which are sneezed out or
coughed out by a person having
the disease.
This at once suggests that it is
more than advisable for the well
to remain away from the sick as
much as possible and also to avoid
being in a crowd, for in a crowd
there always seems to be one or
more persons who are i'll, and who
will not stay at home.
ANY person who is sneezing or
coughing should cough CT sneeze
into his handkerchief for the above
mentioned reasons. 1t would be
well for those caring for the sick
to wear a mask made of several
thicknesses of cheesecloth or SINH
lar material, to prevent inhaling
the germs which are eXhaled by the
i'll. That this would be a good pro
cedure for the sick goes without
saying.
There are various other contrib
uting factors in spreading infiu'
cnza, for instance it has been
shown that those who become eX-
cessively fatigued or chilled are
made more prone to contract the
illness.
The characteristics Of the disease
are: The onset may be very sud
den and in few hours the patient
be very i'll with fever. which is
often high; severe headache, weak
ness, general malaise, and pains Of
varying severity in the muscles
and joints. especially the back.
i mere are dIIcI udllli5 emmy am
warm sensations. Some have nose
bleed, others NAV have nausea and
vomiting. A great many sneeze
and cough. and it is by this that
/ the disease is most often transmit
/ red.
! 1t is always well for the patient
to remain in bed for several days
after the symptoms have subsided
and to carefully carry out the ir-
etructicus of the attending physI-
elan.
AS is well known, the complica-
| tons Of influenza are more serious
than the disease itself, therefore
/ tie directions of the doctor should
/ be carried out TO the letter.
It might be well at this time 70
| urge all people who are i'll to call
/ a physician during the daytime, in
( stead Of waiting until during the
night.
It is rather a common thing for
! 4 physician to receive call and he
. is urged to hasten as the patient is
/ said to be very i'll. When the ply
: stefan arrives lie finds that the sick
person has been i'll for "A to As
hours and during the night decided
to have med cal attention. The
night fee is double the day fee
/ which could have been saved by a
little foretuought The necessity
/ Of calling the doctor during the
dav is asst becoming an important
fact. since fully 20 per cent OF the
medical profession is in service,
which, means that during the com
ing winter the strength of the indi-
vidual doctors remaining at home
must be conserved in order TO meet
the demand for their services.
/ Yours very truly,
DIR. JOSEPH DE SILVA,
President.
DIR. G.. D. HAtBERG,