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96
enza virus type 3 which affect the majority of pre-school children
and give rise to the serious conditions of acute bronchiolitis and
bronchopneumonia.
Over 100 viruses exhibiting great diversity in their manifestations, are known to affect the respiratory tract and slowly, but
surely, these are being classified. In the main there appears to be
two types—those which, like influenza, enter the cells of the
respiratory tract and give rise to local disease and those which,
like measles and chickenpox, merely use the tract as a portal of
entry to the body. It is estimated that of the total number of
children affected by measles each year some 20,000 will suffer
from residual respiratory complications.
Chronic bronchitis, an almost inevitable sequel to cigarette
smoking, reduces resistance and leads to complicating bacterial
infections which, because of limited knowledge of the causal
agents, are very difficult to treat. Although the duration of exacerbated chronic bronchitis is reduced by antibiotics, the frequency of the attacks seems to be unaffected suggesting that
other factors such as mycoplasmas or viruses may be involved.
Progress of this disease is insidious with a gradual loss of respiratory efficiency and by the time a patient is compelled to seek
medical assistance, the lung damage is often severe and irreversible.
As reported last year, the level of bronchitis in the young adult
depends to a very large extent on the occurence and treatment
of the disease during childhood and, with the community's youngest members, some recent investigations show that obesity (q.v.)
has a direct relationship with respiratory infection. It was noted
that an increase in lower respiratory infection occurred in babies
whose weight gain was excessive, especially in those whose weight
at birth was 2.5 kgms. or less and in those who were introduced
to solids at nine weeks and under. In most instances the causal
organism is unknown but it is thought, by some reliable authorities, to be due to a virus arising from infection of the foetus prior
to birth. There is no logical reason to suppose that upper and
lower respiratory infections have different aetiologies and, so far,
virology and pharmacology have failed to find an effective counter to such infection. In such cases, imprecise knowledge precludes the application of recognised preventive measures. Treatment remains supportive and confined to relief of symptoms in
which drugs have little or no part to play.
Since the publicising of the pollen count in daily newspapers
asthma, that most distressing of complaints with psychosomatic