The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-12-28
Influenza and Afterward.

War has claimed it's thousands, but
| FLU it's tens of thousands! The sign
| ing of the armistice on the French
front was an immediate stop to the
slaughter of battle The spectre of
war no longer stalks abroad to claim
| it's daily toll of the flower of the
worlds young manhood. November
| IL, 1918, will forever be a memorable
event in the calendar of the worlds
history, for it marks the cate when
| the allied commanders gave the word
| for death by war to cease; whereupon,
| all the world went frantic with de-
| lirious joy. But that universal joy as
| the result of peace was marred by the
death toll of another enemy of man
| kind-influenza, whose emissar1eS
work in hidden and unseen ways, who
| is just as ruthless as the Hun and as
| merciless as the Turk. The armi-
stice for this enemy must be written
| in the laboratory, the execution of
| which will be accomplished in the hos
pital and home by that tried and
| trusted soldier and defender of man
| kind-the physician. A thousand
| laboratories with thousands Of work.
| ers scattered over the world are work.
| ing night and day that they may dis
| cover the hidden secrets of this enemy
and, having found them, put him to
| flight. 1t is confidently hoped that
| that day is near at hand.
How may you know if you have
| influenza?
| . Well, ordinarily there will be no
doubt in your mind that something
unusual has happened, if you are so
| unfortunate as to be infected with
| influenza germs. The attack is usually
sudden in its onset, and characterized
! by more or less severe headache. back
/ ache and general body aches, with
chilly sensations and a mounting fever.
| There is usually a sensation of sore
| ness of the throat, altho not severe,
| with more or less cough and a feeling
| of extreme Observation-Disclosures, in
| some cases almost to the point of a
severe collapse. OF course, there are
many mild cases IN which these Symp-
toms are not so pronounced, but Ordl-
narily an attack of real influenza will
leave it's impression upon your own
| mind. as well as that of your physi-
clan, that it is something more than
an ordinary cold or any of the other
| diseases of the upper respirat DRY
| tract. Frequently there is a profuse
| nose-bleed, with an ingestion or a
congestion of the eyes and other mu-
| cous surfaces. Some types of the
| disease take a form of so-called gas
trio or intestinal disturbance, or a
disturbance of the stomach and bowels.
| characterized by more or less pain
| and diarrhea.
What will you do when you catch
| the influenza
\ lie lhSt tIiUS yOu uO, Will
| out a moments unnecessary delay. is
! is go to bed. cover up warm, with
| heat applied to the feet and other por-
tons of the body that feel chilly and
cold. with thoro ventilation continu-
ously night and day in the room. You
| should not leave the bed under any
| circumstances whatever / desire to
place all the emphasis possible on this
/ point. as it is a crucial time which
may be and often is the determining
| factor as to whether or not you will
have complicating pneumonia, which
| is so much to be feared on account of
the heavy mortality therefrom. The
getting up and chilling the surface of
/ the body when you are perspiring, and
in most cases there is generally a vio-
lent perspiration following the first
| high rise in temperatures an ex-
ceedingly dangerous procedure. and
nothing, no matter how urgent, should
| tempt you to get out from under the
| covers at this critical state of the
| disease.
| The second thing you should do
after going to bed is to summon a
physician aod. having summoned him
and received his advice, that advice
should be faithfully followed.
In uncomplicated cases the disease
runs a rapid course-the fever term
| mating the third day. hence the name
\ sometimes given to the disease of
! ''Three-day Fever" If it is important,
as 1 have shown, that patients suffer-