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Show America Girds for a Flu Attack The Asiatic influenza epidemic may strike hard in the U. S. this Fall and Winter; here's what's been done to protect you. Vaccine is readied for market. ' by Jack Ryan The coming weeks may be unpleasant ones for millions of Americans. An influenza epidemic is spreading throughout the world, and some experts believe this Fall and Winter will make us ripe for its fever, headaches, and prostration. For those who remember the historic worldhere are some words wide flu epidemic of 1918-1- 9, of comfort: the current virus is rarely fatal. So far, it has shown few of the killing characteristics of "Spanish flu," which left 21 million persons dead, 548,452 of them Americans. Today's "Asiatic flu" will cause severe illness but be over in three or four days. Even more important, new wonder drugs probably can check influenza's real danger aftereffects like pneumonia and other respiratory diseases. Nevertheless, in terms of comfort and cost, the possible epidemic could deal the United States a severe blow. If the highly contagious flu follows the pattern set in the Orient and since repeated on almost every continent, 15 to 20 percent of the population may be affected, and in some (Continued on page 6) rTw , J f-- V ii ; tV i -- ? J, a'W -- & rf-' , . J TTTlg n V(R5 Officials in San Francisco check passengers aboard ocean liner from the Orient on which 96 were stricken with flu. Later, the illness broke out elsewhere on West Coast 4 Family Weekly, September 22, 1957 |