Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-10-01
About Influenza
BY Frederic ]. Haskin

WIN inc rnvH3eS OF SpAnHn JnuNsetfzS
| still on the spfeaA, and the esrrr Of the
discasc still cluding the scientists, there
is general impression abroad that
civilization has been visited by new
and drcadful maIady.
Now, there il some question as to
Whether Spanish fnhucnza can he called
= "drcadkui maindy" Certainly, 10 IS
morn sinister than It's small brother the
common cold" but, by the smme token,
| IL il srsciy lcss terrible than its VIM
dictivc sisters, pneumonia snd pienlsy
Bat, according to specialists in resp,ra~
| tory diseases. the stah of the Surgron
General Of the United States aTmy,
the Public Health Service, and neatly
every reputable physician IN the country,
there n mo earthly reason for chilling u
new
The first association Of the disease
with the country Of Spain seems TO
have been in 1857, when nearly the
splitting, sneezing, coughing and the
ike" An interesting manuscript, pub
| lishcd in ondon m l7A9 by Or. Thomas
short and entitled "A General Chrono-
logical History ~ the Air. Weathe,
| Seasons, Meteors etc, relates that in
1857 AT Mantm Carpentaria, three
| miles from Madrid. the epidemic began
in August; and bleeding and p,irgng
were 80 dangerous that IN the small town
more than 2.r00 were let blood o. and
died
hNCfrvT SYMPTOMS.
There IL began with roughness of
the JAWS, a small cough, then n strong
fever with a pain Of the head, back and
legs; some felt as though they were
corded over the breast and had weight
At the stomach: all of which continued
till the third day when the yer went
OF with sweat or bleeding If the nose
In Some few it. turned to pIeurisy or
fatal peripneumony." These symptoms
correspond pretty faithfully With those
repeytcd If victims in our own country
Mt The present time
Another epidemic seized Spain m
tho year 1916, and the ch oncles Of the
carly Plymouth colony record how
nsitgn disessp of the respiratory organs
WIS carried INTO New England by a
cargo ship from Valencia Several Pill
ayifns died of IT, Following these first
sci ures in 1864, internltt Mt spidemies
occurred In this country with reasonable
frequency. Medical ooks detail them
rs avfng taken pla-e dozen times
IN the last two centuries.
Be; ween 1850 and 1893 c ere was a
lull IN the influenza ont reaks. In the
latter year howev r, cssme suddenly
the widespread Ga grippe" epidemic
still within he memory Of many If ds.
This epidemic, a ording 20 oactefi-
olox1stS. bad its origin somewhere IN
the Orient. whence il found its way into
Russia and hem INTO the rest Of Europe
and, finally, into tn United States.
OUR oLo rRrgvf, T.. GstrpE
Tn pene la grippe wss applied
by Fren h physicians, cause Of The
swift and unexpected nature of the
Diseases attack. The epidemic, statistics
show lasted until 1898 though, per-
haps IL was not so widespread as was
commonly believed. To have Ia grippe
beeame thing Of fashion, and doctors
are inclined 10 think that many persons
fcigncd siekncss through some foolish
notion that IL gave tn m ocial So
periority. This idea may have risen
from the fact that several royal
families were afflicted.
II was during the epidemic Of 1889
% that the greatest advances in the
treatment Of influenza were made. 4
German scientist named Pfeiffer sue
ceetied in isoiating a baciiItls to which
wss kIven The name Pfeiffer's bacillus
Until few wears ago IL was devoutly
believed by physicians to be the sole
cause Of influenza.
SPA ism doctors are vehement in
their denial that the disease winch has
already taken a toll in the [ niteti states
originated in their country. The facts
seem TO pe9r them out II Is generally
known that an influenza epidemic &C.
CURED during the summer of 1917
in nearly all of the South European ,
countries. and in the fall and winter |
of f9f7-lS reached the Western Front |
and sent many a soldier into a base |
hospital for brief respite. Among he |
soldiers IL took the name OF three day /
fever or the fra the latter being an |
n judgement for influenza, which was !
deemed too highbrow and cumbersome |
for trench use. As early as 1916 the |
dis use was reported on the eastern |
front by German physicians. It's appear |
ance IN New York came late this summer /
IMPORTED, or COURSE
Bactericlogasts ii the Epited States /
are agreed that rfiuenza has been carried |
here from some foreign country though i
they are NOT prepared TO say the country /
is Spain However. they are more CON /
eerned in discovering the cause OF the {
disease than its place Of origin American ,
physicians seem TO be at loggeThcadS /
rs to whether or not the germ which /
is responsible for the epidemic is the /.
same rs the one DR. Pfciffer imprisoned |
under his microsc 1pe quarter century
ago
Surgeon General Rupert Blue Of the |
United States Public Health Service !
said recently That the epidemic Of |
1898 which swept a large part Of Europe
and this country was caused by very
inmate bacteriun, commonly called !
If iffer's bacillus, is undoubted \ ct,
on the other hand We have fairly extern