The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-10-02
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
INFORMATION
BIZ REAU
-ALL ABOUT INFLUENZA

washtastau. D. q

Washington, ID. g., Sept, 80. - With
the ravages of Spanish influenza still
| disease still eluding the scientists.
there is a general impression abroa d
! that civilization has been visited by a
new and dreadful malady.
Now, there is some question as to
whether spanish influsnza- can be
called a dreadful malady." Certainly.
| it is more sinister than, it's small
brother the common celd," but, by
the same token, it is surely less ter
rible than its viIfdictive sisters, pneu-
! monia and pleurisy. But, according to
specialists in respiratory disea ses. the
United States army, the public health
service, and nearly every reputable
physician in the country, there is no
earthly reason for calling it NEW"
The first association of the disease
with the country of Spain seems to
entire nation was stricken sore with
splitting. sneezing, coughing and the
like" An interesting manuscript pub
lished in London in 1749 by DIR.
Thomas Short and entitled "A General
Chronological, History of the Air,
lates that m 1857 cat Mantua Carpen-
taria, three miles from Madrid, the
epidemic began in August; and bleed
ing and purging was 80 dangerous that
in the small town more than 2,00U
were let blood of, and all died. There,
it began with roughness. of the jaws,
a small cough, then a strong fever
with a pain of the head, back and
legs; some felt as tho they were
corded over the breast, and had a
weight at the stomach; all Of which
continued till the third day when the
fever went off with a sweat or bleed
ing at the nose. In some few it turned
to pleurisy or fatal peripneumony."
These symptoms correspond pretty
faithfully with those reported of vic
Tins in our own country at the present
time.
Another epidemic seized Spain In
the year 1916, and the chronicles of
the early. Plymouth colony record
how malign disease OF tne resptrai
tory organs was carried into New
England by a cargo ship from Valen-
cha. Several Pilgrims died Of it,
Following these first seizures in 1854,
intermittent epidemics occurred in
this country with reasonable fire.
quency. Medical books detail them
as having taken place a. dozen times
in the last two centuries.
Between 1850 and 1898 there was
lull in the influenza outbreaks. In
the latter year, however, came sud
denly the widespread la grippe cpl
demic, still within the memory of
ing to psychologists, had its origin
somewhere in the Orient, whence it
found its way into Russia and then
into the rest OF Europe and. finally
into the United States. -
The name la grippe was applied by
French physicians, because of the
swift and unexpected nature Of the
diseases attack. The epidemic, stat
istics show, lasted until 1898, tho
perhaps it was not so widespread as
was commonly believed. To have la
grippe Ss.4 became a thing Of fsshion.
many persons feigned sickness thru
some foolish notion that it gave them
a social superiority. This idea may
have risen from the fact that several
royal families were afflicted.
1t was during the epidemic of
1sss-s3 that the greatest advances in
the treatment of influenza were made.
A German scientist named Pfeiffer
succeeded il isolating bacillus to
which was given the name Pfeiffer's
bacillus. Until a few years. ago it
was devoutly believed by physicians
to be the sole cause a influenza.
Spanish doctors ARE vehement in
their denial that the disease which
has already taken a toll in the United
States originated in their country.
The facts seem to bear them out. 1t
is generally known that an influenza
CPiuSiIilC OCSuIIeQ QuTlhS the sum-
mer OF 1917 in nearly all of the south
European countries. and in the fall
and winter of 1s17-1S reached the
western front and sent many a SOL
der into q base hospital for a brief
respite. Among the soldiers it took
the name of '.three-day fever" or 1.-The |
fiu," the latter being an infringement |
highbrow and cumbersome for trench |
use. AS early as 1915 the disease was
on the eastern front by Ger
man physicians. Its appearance in |
New York came late this summer.
Psychologists of the United States |
are agreed that influenza has been |
try-tho they are not prepared to say
the country is Spain. However, they |
are more concerned in discovering the |
cause OF the disease than it's place of |
origin. American physicians seem to |
be at loggerheads as to whether or |
not the germ which is responsible for |
the epidemic IS the same as the oae |
Dr. Pfeifer imprisoned under his mi |
croscope 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 Eu-
rope and this country was caused by
very minute bacterium, commonly
called Pfeiffer's bacillds, is undoubted. |
Yet, on the other hand: we have
round fairly extensive outbreaks of an |
nnuenza-like disease which were GER
Lainly not due to this bacteriurn. In
auenza-or seeming infiuenxa--is
known to have been caused by the
pneumocci. the germ of 1obar ppeu-
nonia.''
1t is Of great importance, Doctor
Blue points out, to ascertain definitely
whether the physicians of the coun-
try have to deal with the Pfeiffer or
with some other germ. Moreover"
said the surgeon general. 1--WE should
know whether the outbreaks of Span
sh influenza in various parts OF the
country like New Orleans, Mobile,
Boston and New York are all due to
the same kind ofAseNh."
To this effect Doctor Blue, a few
lays ago, requested Ma Tor I2icha ~ AZ |