The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1925-02-10
c0ID is HARRASSING
COUNTRY LIKE FLU"
,,A1ADY IS SIMILAR TO THAT
WITCH PLAGUED UNITED
STATES IN NINETIES.
WAS LONG CONSIDERED MYTH

Assumed Wide Distribution in No
venber and December, and Thous-
ands of Cases Reported by Physi-
clans To Undertake Survey.
BALTIMORE, Md.--If you have
suffered from a cold in the past two
months and noticed in addition to
other discomforts that you had
cramps, hiccoughs and soreness Of the
scalp. head and face, then, according
~ DR.. !. A. Doull, associate profess
cor Of epidemiology at the Johns
HOPKINS School of Hygiene and Pub
lie Health, you were afflicted with a
disease which long had been consider
cd myth among medical practition-
This disease, DIR. Doull said, is abb
doninal influenza. In 1S90-95 the
United States was visited by this NAL
adv Physicians living today who re-
member its attack then have spoken
about it; but the feeling among the
yofnger generation of doctors, Dr.
Dor1l said, has been that memories
we're inaccurate or scientific recording
in those days was none the best so
that MANY doubted whether there real
" was such a thing as abdominal in
Auenza
Says All Danger Past.
Experiences of residents of Balti
more from the beginning OF Novem-
her to the end of December, and in
scattered instances since, however.
demonstrate, according to DIR. Doull,
that there is such disease. For in
Baltimore, he declared, as well as over
much OF the country, it assumed the
wide distribution of an epidemic. All
danger from it now, he asserted, is
The symptoms reported, DR.. Doull
said are the usual cold in the head,
nausea. sensitiveness of the skin, gen
erallv limited to one side OF the face
or scalp; tenderness in the region OF
the belt and hiccoughs. The hiccoughs
have been reported to last from one
to three days and to proceed at the
rate of one hiccough every five sec
ends. Then there has been perplex-
inc neuralgia, headache, pain above
the eyes, restlessness, irritablllty and
insomnia.
Physicians Report Cases.
That the disease assumed the pro-
portions of an epidemic, he maintain
ed is indicated by the fact that p
physicians in Baltimore reported hav-
ing handled ia cases OF it.
4 QUESTIONABLE sent over the coun-
try revealed that the same symptoms
we're reported at the universities OF
Illinois, Syracuse, Kentucky, Idaho,
Ohio state, Michigan and Missouri
The health department of New Ha-
ven, Conn, DR.. Doul said, has issued
pamphlet on an epidemic OF hlc-
coughs, which, however, includes
among the symptoms the usual cold
dscomforts.
Symptoms Complicated.
How the trouble got into the coun-
try, DR.. Doull admitted he did not
know, but he felt assured that its
symptoms were more complicated
than those of the common cold.
Physicians admit they are unable to
answer the questions: What is a.
cold; why is a cold; how many kinds
OF colds are there?" The United States
government, til e efore, operating
through the federal department OF pub
lie health, has undertaken a survey IN
order to determine whether colds are
the result of infection or exposure to
low temperatures or a combination oil
both.
Ouestionnaires Are Sent
The survey is being conducted by
means OF a QUESTIONABLE sent to stu
dents and faculty at universities and
colleges all over the country. These
missionaries are sent out every two
weeks. They ask the receiver to state
whether he has had a cold i'll the two
preceding weeks, what its most sig
nihcant discomforts were and what he
remembered about the way it started.
He is requested to tell whether the
cold followed exposure or known con-
tact with some one having. a cold
To date this material has not been
brought to the point where 1t is eX-
pected by the officials i'll charge to-
yield its maximum returns. One tact,
however, has been observed from the
data in hand. That is that there are a
remarkable number OF colds that be-
gin the end of October, SO that there
Is some relation between the season
for cold weather and the season tor
common colds.
The largest cooperative butter and