Show t Diet and Health AUn y Lulu Hunt Peters MD vs L frt T iet alth Key to C orie I EPIDEMIC ENCEPHALITIS SLEEPING SICKNESS Society women are popularly sup posed to yawn considerably from boredom and it bores us to think of It but recently a well-known well society woman yawned and every neW newspaper paper In the United States chronicled the fact tact on the front 1 page and we all read of it with the keenest interest Why was this I because it g give gave e hopes that she was recovering from Epidemic Encephalitis 1 litis th the mysterious sleeping sickness sickness sickness sick sick- ness which Is so often fatal What is ig this strange disease and what causes it It is an n Inflammation of the brain that much we know kno knoThe The word Encephalitis Is taken taRen from the Greek word encephalon meaning brain and the termination itis means means inflammation To answer the qu question What causes It Frankly we do not hot know yet S 'S So far we we have not been successful in is communicating E. E Encephalitis t to animals according to Dr Simon Flexner director of the laboratories of the Rock Rockefeller feller Institute for i Medical l Research When we succeed succeed suc suc- in doing that then we will have more ore hope hop of discovering the I. I cause We believe this much that it isan Is Isan Isan an infectious Infectious' disease which means that it Is due to a organism micro or germ of low communicability We do Il not know blow how this germ Is taken into or given off by the body The disease lasts from a few days to months and 20 per cent of ot the cases are fatal While it tends to prevail during the winter period It also occurs at other seasons Epidemic Encephalitis first made its appearance In the British Isles and spread over the world in isolated Isolated Isolated Iso Iso- cases in 1917 Dr Flexner from whose address given at the annual conference of health officers officers officers cers and nurses in 1924 I take my data for this tiis article states that we weha ha have ve no historical l ref reference rence to any similar disease ase before 1 17 The rhe well-known well sleeping sickness Is a a I tropical disease due to to trypanosomes trypanosomes trypanosomes somes protozoan organisms transmitted transmitted transmitted trans trans- by the Infected tsetse fly and has nothing in common with this disease except in some of ot its symptoms When E. E Encephalitis first ap ap- I geared it was called lethargic encephalitis en encephalitis encephalitis en- en which means that it produced produced produced pro pro- sleepiness sometimes passIng passing passing pass- pass Ing into coma and ending in death However the term has been changed to Epidemic E E. because many of ot the cases present symptoms symptoms symptoms toms which ar Just the opp opposite to lethargic As the disease is an inflammation of the brain the symptoms depend I I upon what part of ot the brain is af affected af- af When hen the part of the brain I af-I which has to do with sleeping and waking is affected then we have havethe havethe the lethargic type b but t when the motor region is affected then we we have the disturbance of motion and tI more ore muscular activity This form orni formis is known as s the chorea chorea chorea cho cho- rea taken from Chorea St. St Vitus Dance Naturally when both parts are ale affected there are mixed symptoms symptoms symptoms toms of of sleepiness and excitement Our belief that it is due to a microorganism ml- ml organism cro-organism or germ Is based upon the manner of the behavior of ot the disease It is positive that the disease disease disease dis dis- ease is not readily communicated for it is rare that multiple cases occur in a family Flexner says says that we can safely conclude that in inthe inthe the average individual resistance to the disease is high Is this disease related to epidemic Influenza In 1916 and 1917 the two diseases overlapped Did the influenza produce e the other directly direct direct- ly or predispose to it it indirectly We do not know We Ve know that the epidemic of influenza In 1889 was was very severe and fatal but there were no symptoms following it comparable to E. E E. E Flexner believes that we Ve are safe In saying there Is no obvious and necessary relationship b between tween E. E Influenza and E E. Encephalitis He believes th that t the two afflictions are distinct and says he shall continue to believe so until the evidence to the contrary is more compelling than at present He ends his address with the statement that In the Interest of public health cases of the disease are to be isolated and otherwise dealt with in the manner of the themore themore themore more communicable diseases as set down In the sanitary code Tomorrow Tomorrow Answers Answers to Corre Corre- Copyright 1925 by the George Matthew Adams Service I |