View report page

their natural instincts against "coddling" and "wrapping
up" are correct, for it seems to me that the proper lines to
adopt are to raise our natural immunity by plenty of open
air and the avoidance of crowded places during an epidemic.
It may be argued, however, as I have said in the earlier part
of the report that there is no use trying to keep fit since the
healthy suffered most, but even they mostly acquired the infection
in crowded places, such as barracks and workshops,
etc., and although they might be considered healthy they did
not acquire the disease in healthy circumstances. It is a
curious thing that general practitioners on the whole escaped
very well, and this might be attributed to their being so much
in the open air. I think the suggestion that the nose and
throat should be douched by a weak solution of common salt,
is an excellent one, for, as Professor Leonard Hill has pomted
out, people who bathe at the seaside are very little liable
to take cold or infection, largely because the nose and throat
are constantly washed out, and there is no reason why, when
one is washing the face and hands and mouth, that the
throat and nose should be left out.
The following notes on the admissions into the Infirmary
for influenza have been kindly written by Dr. Alexander
Robertson, Acting Superintendent, and I think they throw a
great deal of light on the clinical aspects of the two epidemics
of 1918. I am reprducing them in full:—
Statistical.
Influenza.
Summer Epidemic:—End of June to beginning of August, 1918.
lotal number of cases admitted
O >
94
„ „ „ Males „
52
„ „ „ Females „
42
Developed lobar pneumonia
36
„ broncho pneumonia
38
Cases showing epistaxis Ni
l.
>> ~ albuminuria
6
~ developing meningitis
3
i> >. empyema
7
Cases with serious effusia in pleura
2