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Show fl . ADVICE ON FLU U ' U. S. Publio Health Service Issues . i Official Health Bulletin . on Influenza. 1 ' ' klATESf WORD ON SUBJECT. I iff . jipldemlo Probably Not Spanish In. , jfc ' ( Origin Germ Still Unknown Peo-i 31 "' J, P'0 Should Guard Against "Droplet J Inaction" Burgeon General Blue ' Makes Authoritative Statement - ' ' Washington, D. a (Special.) Al-i; Al-i; ' ithough King Alfonso of Spoln was " ' ione of tho victims of tho Influenza cpl-!domlc cpl-!domlc In 1803 and again this summer, i Spanish authorities rcpudinto any ' il ;cla!m to lnfluenra as a "Spanish" dls- :caao. If tho peoplo of this country do ' "' flot talto caro tho epidemic will be-icomo be-icomo so widespread throughout tho (United States that soon we shall hear J- the dUduso called "American" In flu .nra. y -r . In rcsponso to a request for dcflnlto , jy 'Information concerning Spanish lnflu-'i lnflu-'i jcnra, Surgeon Qcneral Ilupert Illuo of ' ,t.ho Ul Sl vmlc UcaIt" 8crvlco has : .$'" authorized tho following official Inter- vlow: What Is Spanish Influenza? It It ggj something new? Does It come from ; .-.,) Spain? "Tho discasq now occurring In this .tA? country and called 'Spanish Influcn-f Influcn-f rn' rcscrahlca a very contagious kind of 'cold,' accompanied by fovcr, pains t' Coughs and Sneezes Spread Diseases ' As Dangerous tta Poison 'Otis Slills In the head, eyes, cars, back or other jparts of tho body and a feeling of so-fvcro so-fvcro sickness. In most of tho cases tho ' symptoms disappear after throo or four idays, tho patient then rapidly recover- 'log. Somo of tho patients, howover, Jdovotap pnoumonln, or Inflammation of tho car, or imjnlngltls, and many of theso complicated cases dlo. Whether t ,'thU so-called 'Spanish' Influenza Is . Identical with tho epidemics of Influen--I its of earlier years Is not yet known. l "Epidemics of Influenza linvo visited 'gat tthls country slnco 1017. It Is Interest Sfflk ' ting to know that this first epldcmla giEg was brought hero from Valencia, ioflg.' 'Spain. Since that tlmo thero havq laV 'en nun"ro("1 epidemics of tho dls '"IjBr, .cabp. In I8fif nnd 1600 an epldcmlq VfE of l",lucnr"' "lifllng somewhero In tho SbtL ' Orient, spread first to Itussla nn jjgjjSv , 'thenco over tiractlcally tho cntlro civ. Hk'. ' .Hlzed world. Three years later thcrq Jrx wns uno",or "flro-up of tho disease, irajAgLw. Both times tho epidemic spread wldoi WR&r ovcr t0 Uiilte() stntcs- W&Skr "Although tho present epidemic Is 'tfauifcfrV -called 'Spanish Influenza,' thero Is no reuson to bellovo that It originated lu -.'nii'fV 'Spuln. Somo writers who havo studied y tho question bellovo that tho epidemic i." camo from tho Orient and they call at- Wffir tentlon to tho fact that tho Germans iWfe' mention the disease as occurring along ' JJfiK,. tho castjern front In tho summer and ':Er- full of 1017." gjffls-''1 , How can "Spanish Influenza" bo rec WgyAI: ' .ognlzed? Hrw' 'vrcro ls 08 J10' no certain way In jfljlfiffi. which a single ensj of 'Spanish Influ 'wi' ' 'fiw' can be recognized. On tho oth-jglil oth-jglil hand, recognition Is easy where , thero Is a group of cases. In contrast jH to the outbreaks of ordinary coughs - Jjfi end colds, which usually occur In the TjQSb. co,(1 m0""'s' epidemics of Influenza 'JvjB .may occur at any season of tho year. ' "jvfflfc. Thus tho present epidemic raged most X-VMv Intensely In Kuropo In May, Juno and f&W Ju,y' Uoreover ,n n9 cnB' ot ordl. nary coldfc tho general jymptomi '(fever, pain, depression) are by no 'M(jK anicans as severe or as sudden In theli &SF onset as they aro In Influenza. Final- ; vri, Jly,' ordinary colds do not spread 'JggiS through tho community so rapidly ot B 80 extensively as does Influenza. ''IESP ' n ,nost Cilses a Persori tnken sick ''jafS ;wlth Influenza feels sick, rather sud- iF.jS denly. lie feels weak, has pnlns )n tho Anng eyes, ears, head or buck, and may bo wHrpz ,soro all oyer. Many patients fool 3l dizzy, somo vomit, Mot .of tho pa- ' ' tlents complain of feeling chilly, and with this comes a fever In which tho tcmperaturo rises to 100 fo 101. In most ?ases the pulse remains relatively relative-ly slow. ' ''In appeofmnco one Is struck by the 1 fact that th patient looks sick, Ills .eyes and tho inner sldo of his eyelids may bo- slightly 'bloodshot,' or 'con- g'estcd,' as tho doctors soy. There may bo running from, tho nose, or " thero may be some cough. These signs of a cold' may not be marked ; nevertheless never-theless tho patient looks and feels very " sl?k. "In iiHilltlon to tho appearance ant) the symptoms as already described, , examination of tho patient's blood may - aldnho physician In recognizing 'Span-..' 'Span-..' UU InUueuza,' for It baa beca fouii , ,, .,,.. , , , , v. ffiat In (Ids dlsohso'lhb number of whlto cortjuscles shows llttlo or, no In-crenso In-crenso above tho normal. It Is possl-bio possl-bio that tho laboratory Investigations ndw being mndo through tho flntlonnl .Itescnrch Council and tho United States Hygienic Laboratory will furnish fur-nish n moro certain way In which Indl-.vldunl Indl-.vldunl cases of this, dlscnso can bo recognized." What Is the course of the disease? Do people die of It? "Ofdlnarlly, tho fever Insts from three to four dnys and tho patient recovers. re-covers. Dut whllo tho proportion of Idcaths In tho present epidemic has generally been low, In somo places the ,outbrcak has been sovcro nnd denths ,havo been numerous. When death oc-.curs oc-.curs It Is usually tho result of a complication." com-plication." . What causes the disease and how Is It spread? ' "llactorlologlsts who havo studied Influenza In-fluenza epidemics In tho pnst havo .found In many of tho cases a vcrjr Small rod-shaped gcrtn called, after Its discoverer, I'felffer's bacillus. In other eases of apparently tho samo kind of dlscaso thero woro found pnoumococcl, tho germs of lobar pneumonia. Still others havo been caused ,by streptococci, strepto-cocci, nnd by others germs with long names. "No matter what particular kind of germ causes the epidemic, It Is now bclloved that Influenza Is always spread from person to person, tho germs being carried with tho air along with tho very smalt droplets of mucus, expelled by coughing or sneezing, forceful talking, and tho llko by ono who already has tho germs of tho disease. dis-ease. They may also bo carried about In tho air In tho form of dust coming from dried mucus, from coughing nnd sneezing, or from careless peoplo who spit on the floor nnd on tho sldowalk. s In most other catching diseases, a person who has only n mild attack of tho dlscaso himself mny glvo u very sovcro attack to others.',' What should be done by those who catch the disease? "It Is very Important thnt every person per-son who becomes sick with Influenza should go homo at onco nnd go to bed. This will help keep away dangerous complications nnd will, at tho samo time, keep the patient from scattering tho dlscnso fur and wldo. It Is highly dcslrnhlo that no ono bo allowed to sleep In the samo room with tho patient. pa-tient. In fact, no ono but tho nurse should bo allowed In tho room. "If thcru Is cough nnd sputum or running of tho eyes and nose, caro should bo taken that all such discharges dis-charges aro collected on bits of gauzo or rag or paper napkins and burned. If tho patient complains of fovcr nnd hendachc, 1io should bo given water to drink, n cold compress to tho forehead and a light sponge. Only such mcdl-cino mcdl-cino should bo given as Is prescribed by tho doctor. It Is foolish to ask tho druggist to proscrlbo nnd mny bo dangerous dan-gerous to tako tho so-called 'safe, suro and harmless' remedies' advertised by patent mcdlclno manufacturers. "If 'the patient ls so situated that ho can bo attended only by somo ono who must also look after others In tho fnm-tly, fnm-tly, It la advisable that such attendant wear n wrapper, apron or gown ovcr tho ordinary house clothes whllo In tho sick room nnd slip this off when leaving leav-ing to look after tho others. "Nurses nnd attendants will do well to guard against breathing In dangerous danger-ous dlscnso germs by wearing n slmplo fold of gauzo or mask whllo near tho patient." Will a person who has had Influenza before catch the disease again? "It Is well known thnt an attack ot measles or scarlet fovcr or siAnllpox usually protects a person ngalnst another an-other attack of tho samo dlscnso. This appears not to bo truo of 'Spnulsh Influenza.' In-fluenza.' According to nowspnpor ro-ports ro-ports tho King of Spain suffered on njtnclt of Influenza during tho epidemic epi-demic thirty years ago, and wns again stricken during tho recent outbreak In. Spain." , How can on guard against Influenza? Influ-enza? "In guarding ngalnst dlsenso of all .kinds, It Is Important that tho body bo kept strong nnd nblo to fight oft dls-;caso dls-;caso germs. This can bo dono by having hav-ing a proper proportion of work, play iand rest, by koeplng tho body woll .clothed, nnd by eating sufficient wholo-'somo wholo-'somo and properly selected food.. In connection with dle,t, It Is well to remember re-member thnt milk Is ono' ot tho best all-around foods obtalnablo for adults as woll as children. So far as a dls-easo dls-easo like influenza Is concerned, health authorities everywhere rccognlzo tho Very closo relation botween Its spread and ovcrcrowdod homes. Whllo It Is not always possible, especially In times llko the present, to avoid such overcrowding, peoplo should consider the health danger and mako ovory effort to reduco tho homo ovorcrowd-Ing ovorcrowd-Ing to a. ndnlmum. Tho valuo of fresh air through open vlndows cannot be over emphasized. "When crowding Is unavoidable, as in street cars, euro should bo taken to keep tho faco so turned as not to In-halo In-halo directly the air breathed out by another person. "It Is especially Important to be-waro be-waro of tho person who coughs or sneezes without covering his mouth and nose. It nlso follows that one should keep out of crowd;- and stuffy places ait much as possible, keep homes, offices and workshops well aired, spri d somo tlmo out ot doors each day, walk to work If at all practicable prac-ticable In short, mako every possible effort to breutho as much pure air as possible, N "In nil health matters follow tho nd vlco of your doctor and obey the regulations regu-lations of your local and state health officer." "Cover up each cough and sneeze, w If you don't you'll spread dUtatV |