Evening star., 1934-09-30
PHYSICIANS SEEK
INFLUENZA DATA
Puerto Rico Epidemic and
"Devips Grippe's" Out
| break Lead to Queries.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

Is there a prospect of coming
stu Winter?
The Public Health Service is begin
ming to get inquiries from health Of
ficers seeking the basis of an opinion
which evidently is becoming wide
spread among private practitioners
all over the country that the stage is
set for another outbreak of influenza
with cold weather.
The case as it stands is:
During August and early September
there was a rather widespread in
fluenza epidemic in Puerto Rico.
During the past month along the
Atlantic Seaboard, and especially in
Virginia and North Carolina, there
has been an epidemic of curious
malady known as Devils grippe" an
intestinal malady regarded as closely
related to, If not identical with, the
dreaded influenza.
Dormant for Four Years.
The influenza virus has been dor
mant for the past four years and some
believe that it is about time for 1t
to wake up again.
There is no basis for making any
positive predictions from these facts,
Public Health Service officials claim.
The most serious is the Puerto Rico
epidemic, which has included several
thousand cases, although there has
been no increase in the Islands death
rate and apparently the cases have
been without serious after effects
the most serious part of flu epidemic.
The history of past influenza out
breaks, however, has been that they
start from some such focus and are
confined at first in fairly restricted
areas, from which they break along
the path of least resistance.
The last major epidemic was that Of
1928. Gases were being reported from
Hawaii at least a month before the
disease appeared on the Pacific Coast,
from which it made rapid progress
across the country. If the Puerto
Rico epidemic spreads it would be
expected to follow one of two courses
to the coast of Florida and up the
Atlantic coastline. or through the
Panama Canal Zone to the West
Coast. The greatest anxiety appears
to be felt in California, which has ex-
perienced a serious epidemic Of poly
omyelitis or infantile paralysis, this
Summer.
Little known Of Malady.
The Devils grippe" relationship to
Influenza is largely conjectural and
very little is known about this OBJ
scure malady. 1t is not one Of the
reportable diseases. The fact that
there has been an epidemic of it is
known to the Public Health Service
only through inquiries from newspa-
pers. reports of visitors to the Wash
ington Office from affected areas, and
possibly exaggerated reports current
among private practitioners. 1t is
said that an epidemic of this malady
has preceded each of the past great
influenza waves. but there Is no sta
tistical evidence to prove this. The
disease, in fact, has been known to
medical science for only about 20
years.
Devils grippe may be q Summer
form of influenza itself. It Is 50 re-
garded by many physicians. An at
tack Is seldom fatal or followed by
complications, although it may leave
the victim in a weakened condition
and hence more easily subject to
other infections. It is one Of the many
filterable virus diseases. Influenza it.
self is another. 1t never has been
possible to isolate the virus. The two
may be the same, or they may differ
enough to be classified as separate
maladies.
Since the great inuenza epidemics
of war time, medical laboratories the
world over have worked intensively on
the problem Of the origin and means
of prevention Of the disease, but act
ually very little progress has been
made. Because of the general feeling
among doctors that an epidemic Is
likely this Winter, whether supported
by reliable evidence or not. 1t is ex-
pected that an especially sharp watch
will be kept out for it everywhere.
Tend to Lose Violence.
Nothing can be predicted, Public
Health Service officials claim. as to
the seriousness of such an epidemic,
II IL QO6S COIIlc- LC 1lAotOiy OA eAC
flterable virus diseases, however, has
been that they tend to lose virulence
with each succeeding crest until they
apparently disappear almost COM
pletely and may remain dormant for
many years before there is another
major outbreak. Thus the 1928 cpl
demic was much less serious than
those Of the war years and, If the rule
holds, the next one will be less serious
still. There has been some conten-
tion, however, that the very high
mortality Of the first wave in both
America and Europe may have been
due in part to the concentration of
populations in army camps and war
industries and the possibly unsatis-
factory nutrition among the civilian
population. The latter condition
might be expected to play part this
year.
Up to the present, reports to the
Public Health Service from all over
the country shows, there has been no
unusual incidence of influenza other
than the ordinary Autumn rise in the
United States. The relatively iso-