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Show HOW TO CARE FOR THOSE SICK OF FLU (By H. W. Miller, M. D-, Medical Superintendent, Washington, (D. C.) Sanitarium of the Seventh - day Adventists. be cause of influenza is the bacillus influenzae, which is carried through the nasal passages, and harbored in the sinuses and air passages of the mouth, nose, and throat. Through exhalation ex-halation and expectoration, sneezing and coughing, this germ Is expolled into the air, and if it does not find a reception in tho nasal passages of some other Individual, it dies in a veiy short time, since these organisms are very easily destroyed by sunlight and air. Homes and all workrooms whe.ro two or more persons are togother should be freely ventilated, and people peo-ple should remain as much as possible out in the open air, instead of in closed clos-ed rooms. For the care of one taken down with influenza, the best-ventilated room with a south exposure should be selected, se-lected, preferably an upstairs room, soparated as much as possible from the rest of the house. A largo quantity of 1 bedding should be provided, especially Avarm blankets. Attendance upon tho sick should be limited as much as po3-1 po3-1 sible to one member of the family. ; Outside of the room, in a convenient place, a mask should bo kept, which should be placed over tho nose :ind mouth before entering tho room and ' -left oij, during all the time attention is being given to the patient. It is best 1 to use about six layers of ordinary cheesecloth, saturated with a little lis -terlne. Breathing through this medicated medi-cated gauze gives very satisfactory protection. After a patient has recovered from the influenza, the best way to disln- feet his room is to open the windows, ' air all the bedding, and allow a free circulation of cold air to enter tho room durincr a nnrlnl nf rovpmI hrmrs Any room used by the patient during illness should be thoroughly aired. Too much attention cannot be observed ob-served by those desiring to escape this disease, to avoid mingling with the crowds in public. The out-of-door life has thus far afforded the greatest freedom from the present epidemic, whereas close housing has proved to , be the most fruitful source of dissemi-, dissemi-, nation. Avoid the use of public facilities, facilit-ies, such as telephones, drinking fountains, foun-tains, etc. ' Generally, most people will have had influenza one or two days before they ar their friends recognize tho fact. The fever often reaches 100 degrees or 101 degrees F. before the patient feels the severity of the ache or pain that ac-, ac-, companies it. It is because of this lack . of early quarantine that the diseaso is so easily disseminated. A slight rise in temperature is often the first symptom, symp-tom, which may be noted by some congestion of the eyes and a red flush on the face. Often' there Is a tinge of! headache and a little indisposition at j meals. The trouble may start with a i little cold, with gradual tightening in , the chest, or, as it has started in some, cases, by some disturbance of urination, urina-tion, such as going from five to twen- ! ty-four hours without voiding urine, j Fullness in tho head and dizziness are' early symptoms. Sneezing nnd cough-' ing occur early in the disease, and the j ; ordinary symptoms of a bad cold dur-! ing this time of epidemic should be! looked upon with suspicion as the pos-1 sible beginning of influenza. j This early stage is the most effec-i effec-i tive tim.e to cut short the progress or the disease, by radical treatment; in some cases this will' prevent tho high temperature and delayed recovery that are attendant on fully developed cases. The symptoms of the disease, when well established, are backache, restlessness, rest-lessness, tendency u? move and shift the position because of ache3 and pains throughout the body, and the discomfortyarising from lying long in one position. Headache, either frontal fron-tal or occipital, and sometimes involv-. involv-. ing both areas, usually occurs. There is sensitiveness of the eyes to light, watering of the eyes, congested eye-j eye-j balls some redness of the nose, a j cough, and in some stages of the disease dis-ease a retention of the urine. Often-I Often-I limes tho patient will vomit bile with considerable relief. Prostration is very extreme, and oftentimes there is considerable nausea, with fever ranging rang-ing from 101 degrees to 101 degrees F. It is an exceptional case where the temperature runs up to 104 1-2 degrees de-grees or 105 degrees. All such cases are the result of failure in s proper elimination, and should be given very hornlo. pUmfnntlvn t rrvntTnont. Consti pation rather than diarrhea is met with in most cases. Frequent complications are: abcess In the ears, sore mouth, bronchial pneumonia, retention of the urine, and coma, and delirium developing from uremic poisoning. The pulse is usually us-ually very rapid, especially In case of a high temperature. There is a general tendency throughout the disease dis-ease toward a chilly sensation, and an abhorrence of all cold. At any time during the progress of the disease chilliness may develop and cause an immediate rise of temperature. The appetite is fair, and the tendency is to feed tho patient too much. In influenza there is a constant tendency ten-dency toward internal congestion and peripheral, or external, chilling. This should be studiously combatted by the early use of hot leg baths, fomentations fomenta-tions to chest, or where the symptoms are particularly those of nausea and vomiting, fomentations to abdomen. Each treatment should be followed by a witch-hazel rug or a cool (not cold) sponge. Great care should be taken during the entire period of treatment that the -patient be kept under the covers, the arms and breast carefully protected at all times. In case there is a very high temperature and suppression sup-pression of urine, full blanket packs, or full tub baths, with cold to the head, preferably by means of an ice- , capand inhe more severe cases, cold ( applied at the same time to the heart, will almost always bring down the temperature from one to four degrees, ; and will relieve the pain, v From the verv first, large quanti ties of liquid, preferably hot liquid, should be given the patient. Strained Strain-ed soups, broths, hot lemonade, and other fruit juices, given either hot or cold and in large qualities, assist in the ellnmiatlon of the poison produced produc-ed by the germs. It is these toxins that give rise to the aches and pains and the extreme prostration. To the extent that elimination can be maintained, main-tained, through hot treatments applied as suggested and repeated as frequently frequent-ly as necessary, will the patient be kept free from prostration, aches, and pains, and his recovery hastened. The temperature of bronchial pneumonia pneu-monia will be best controlled by the use of heating compresses applied to the chest directly after each treatment and kept on for a lime after treatment. treat-ment. Great care should be taken to keep tho patient well covered at all times, but at the same time fresh air should be allowed In tho room, and tho room temperature should bo kopt cool, except at tho time of troatment, when nil doors and windows Bhould bo closed clos-ed In order to prevent drafts and chilling chill-ing of the patient. Tho time of recovory from Influenza 13 from two to seven days, Any case prolonged beyond a week, will usually develop some' complication of a ser- ious character, generally one of those here referred to. Diet should be limited lim-ited during the disease. The one final caution is that the patient must not be permitted to rise from bed until the temperature is running run-ning normal, morning, noon and nighL Tho temperature, not the patient's feelings, should be the guide. During convalescence there is almost al-most constant perspiration nnd a tendency ten-dency toward taking cold and chilling, and here lies the danger of developing pneumonia as a secondary' infection. The consequences of such infections are too serious, and have already proved prov-ed too frequent a complication for any one to take chances on getting out too early. Observation shows that very few living liv-ing in the open air como down with influenza. in-fluenza. Those best nble and most physically fit to pass through such an infection should take the risk and care of influenza cases, rather than those who have pulmonary tendencies and other general weaknesses that might endanger their lives should they take the disease. oo |