St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1918-10-19

Orient spread first to Russia and
thence over practically the entire civ
1lized world. Three years later there
was another flare-up Of the disease.
Both times the epidemic spread wide
Il over the United States.
j although the present epidemic 10
called Spanish Influenza there 10 no
reason to believe that It originated In
Spain. Some writer's who have studied
the question believe that the epidemic
came from the Orient and they call At
tention to the fact that the Germans
mention the disease a. occurring along
the eastern front In the summer and
4hll Of 1917"
How can ~epanlsh lnAusnza" b rec
1gnl1ed1
I there b - yse no certain way II
which single case Of Spanish infu-
enza' can be recognised On the 9th
" hand, recognition 10 easy where
there Is Z group Of cases. n contrast
TO the outbreaks Of ordinary coughs
,and colds, which usually occur In the
cold months, epidemics Of .induenza
may occur at aAh season Of tho year.
Thus the present epidemic raged most
intensely in Europe In May, June and
July. Moreover, in the case Of ordi.
nary colds, the general symptoms
kfever, pain, rdepression) are BY no
means as severe or a. sudden In their
onset a. they are In influenza. Final.
~, ordinary colds do not spread
through the community % rapidly or
20 extensively ~ does Influenza.
I'm most cases q person taken nick
with influenza feels sick rather sud-
denly. He feels weak has pains In the
eyes, ears, head or b9ck. and may be
sore all over. Many patients feel
dizzy, some vomit. Most Of the pa
uents complain OF feeling chilly, and
with this comes q fever In which the
temperature rises to 100 to 10z In
most cases the pulse remains relative.
y slow.
I'm appearance one II struck BY the
fact that the patient looks sick H1s
eyes and the inner side Of his eyelids
may be slightly bloodshot,' or con.
Gested,' as the doctors say. There
may be running from the nose, or
there may be some cough. These signs
Of cold may not be marked; never.
theless the patient looks and feels very
dck.
'1n addition 10 the appearance and
the symptoms as already described,
examination Of the patients blood may
aid the physician in recognizing Span
tsh Influenza for It has been found
that In this disease the number Of
white corpuscles shows little or no In
crease above the normal. It IL posi-
BILE that the laboratory investigations
now being made through the National
Research Council and the United
States HYGIENE Laboratory will fur
nish more certain way In which indi-
vidual cases Of this disease can be
recognized"
\akhat u the course of the diseased
Do psopie die ef ~
Ordinarily, the fever lasts from
three to four days and the patient re-
covers. But while the proportion OF
deaths III the present epidemic has
generally been low, in some places the
outbreak has been severe and deaths
have been numerous. When death &C.
ours It is usually the result Of q COM
plication."
What causes the disease and how 10
Il spread?
"Bacteriolog1sts who have studied in
duenza epidemics In the past have
found In many Of the cases a very
small rod-shaped germ called, after its
discoverer, Pfeiffer's bacillus. In other
cases Of apparently the same kind Of
disease there were found pneumococci,
the germs Of lobar pneumonia. Still
others have been caused by strepto-
cocci, and BY others germs with long
names.
mo matter what particular kind Of
germ causes the epidemic, 1t IL now
believed that Influenza II always
spread from person to person, the
germs being carried with the air along
with the very small droplets Of mucous,
expelled BY coughing Or sneezins.
forceful talking, and the like BY ono
who already has the germs Of the dis
ease. They may also bs carried about
In the air in the form Of dust coming
from dried mucous, from coughing and