The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1919-01-22
Teachings Of the EPIDEMIC.

Conscious though the public had be-
come Of the seriousness Of the late cpl
demic Of influenza, the statement con
corning its rayages, published this morn
ing by the bureau OF census, IS none the
less shocking. 1t shows that in 40 cities,
embracing only one-quarter of the coun-
try's total population, the disease has
caused approximately $4,000 deaths.
When the reports are in from all tne
| United States, this seems to leave httie
doubt that the total number OF fatalities
| from the epidemic will be found to equal,
if not exceed, the total number OF fatal
and non fatal casualties in the American
expeditionafy forces abroad during the
whole course of the war to date. Inc
| force of this statement is the greater,
and the harder to bear, on account OF the
preeopceiyed notions which we had come
to entertain OF our immunity, in these
modern times, from any such losses by
epidemic. The medical proficiency OF the
day, the organization of the public health
service. we had come to believe were GER
tain barriers against any plague, at least
Nm a country which, like the United
Estates, had not yet been gravely worn
by war or weakened by under nourish-
ment. And in truth it is even now i'm
possible to reckon how much greater and
more terrible the ravsges of the recent
epidemic might have been, had 1t not
been for the skilled measures taken to
cheek them.
Yet it does appear, on the other hand
and with undenied certainty, that our
home lines Of defense for the public
health have still points of weakness, that
they still need to be bolstered up and in
creased There is not qualified health
officer in the country to-day who even
pretends that such an epidemic as we
have lately suffered is unlikely TO recur
again in the future. On the contrary
the profession in general is positive in
asserting that the danger still stalks at
large and that it is not day too soon
to begin taking protective measures
against il. The nations experience with
the recent plague may not have pointed
the way to any means of securing for the
country certain immunity from influenza,
but the experience has contributed many
points of new value, and we shall be
more than reckless if we let these points,
learned at such cost, go to waste.
What are some of the concrete points
taught by the epidemic? To cite the
opinion Of Commissioner Woodward, the
first and broadcast among Them should be
the realization that all that force of law
and regulation which we have success
fully exerted in the past to protect the
country from the contagious diseases
borne by impure water supply and by di-
rect contamination from filth, we must
now extend and apply, with equal Tigor,
to the control of infection borne by ex-
cretions from the nose and mouth. The
dead letter of the laws against splitting,
for example, must become active and en-.
forceabe as never before, supported by
an unyielding public opinion.
For a second and related point, our
idea of the requirements necessary fer
good ventilation in enclosed rooms, OF
late years so much centred merely upon
securing a sufficient number of cubic feet
of air space, must be extended to include
new emphasis on the provision of a
sufficient floor space as well, In other
words, congestion at the base of rooms
must be avoided, however high the walls.
For third point, directly touching the
public health service, the recent Massa-
chusetts requirement adding pneumonia
and influenza to the list of reportable
diseases, must be retained, generally ex-
tended, and everywhere enforced. Only
so can we be forehanded in efforts to hold
any threatening pneumonia epidemic in
check in its incipient stages. Meanwhile
our doctors of research will doubtless be
busy with further studies as to the best
means of specific curative and preventive
treatment. But it will be a mistake to
throw all the burden on them. If we
wish to extend our immunity from
plague, to cover also the menace from
influenza, the end win only be accom-
plished by the cooperation of all agen-
cies, private and public.--Boston Tran
script, ...