The sun., 1919-10-26

Huns when they are at war sar,.
through" any and all openings.
The Public Health Service be,ier..
it to be necessary to keep on renea,
ing its counsels and warnings 70 ~.
people. "Recurrences," it says to-dav
and will say Tomorrow, "are charoc.
teristic of influenza epidemIcs ana
the history Of the last pandemic .nS
presfous ones would seem to point ~
the conclusion that this one has NJ,
yet run. its full course.
TT seems probable" the statems,.
continues, that we may expect =,
least local occurrences in the roos
future, with an increase over the nor
NAL mortality from pneumonia for ne,.
haps several years"
Mysteries That Continue.
All physicians realize that the s,,..
Of mind acts and reacts on the bod,'
Terror weakens natures defence.
Men and women in some instances
take to their beds through the primar,,
| cause of fear and worry. The official.
in Washington do not desire TO oIarrn
the country, but they would fail IN
their duty were they to saw ,bo,
danger from influenza no longer should
,, be seriously considered The danper
is present. And the mysteries of in.
huenza are as battling as ever.
Why did the disease attack only ~
per cent. of the inhabitants of Inu,.'
Vile and more than SO per cent =,
the Inhabitants of San Antonioq And
why is the case incidence, as It is
called, highest in children from ) N
IA years old? Furthermore, whv aro
more women than men of the samo
age stricken by the malady?
Differences, IL any, Of air and a,-
vironment do not account for a death
rate OF influenza and all forms of nno,,-
monia Of 6.5 per 1000 population +,
Buffalo and 4.S in Rochester; of "a
Cleveland and 3.4 in Toledo; of "a in
Boston and 6.4 in Lowell; Of Sc in
Los Angeles and 7.9 in San Francisco.
Of S.S in Philadelphia and 9.6 in pitts.
burg.
Stated in more startling fashion
the deaths for 25 weeks ending March
l this year were 3,075 in Buffalo and
1,274 in Rochester; 4,4O5 in Cleveland
and SS5 in Toledo; 6,1S3 in Boston and
6s5 " Lowell; 3,7S5 in San Francisco
and 3.193 in Los Angeles; 1890 in
Philadelphia and 4,743 in Pittsburc.
There are notably wide differences
in the mortality rates of individual
cities in the same section, even between
cities close together" say the Public
Health Service, differences which are
not as yet explained on the basis Of
| climate, density of population, charac-
ter of preventive measures exercised
or any other determined environmental
factor"
Rough figures show that from thirty
to fifty persons in every 100 are "sus-
ceptible" to the germs OF influenza.
That being so. the disease is actually
more Of a menace than is realized by
laymen, dreadful though the known
toll Of death was last winter.
Washington Is neglecting no pre-
caution that can be taken to meet and
modify recurrence OF the epidemic
during the approaching months. States
and cities are expected to take care Of
their own people. The commissioner
of health in each State, however, has
| been asked to give the national Cow
ernment the names of 100 physicians
who could and would respond to calls
for help from regions requiring imme-
diate medical attention.
In the meantime the four eminent
bacteriologists heretofore mentioned
and scores Of others in this country
and Europe, as has been Stated will
endeavor to discover the influenza
| L. & 1..rt
ing him.
(Copyri0ht, 1919, by James B. Nor
roic.)