Epidemic Respiratory Disease: The pneumonias and other infections of the repiratory tract accompanying influenza and measlesOpie, Eugene L. (Eugene Lindsay)
History
Epidemic Respiratory Disease: The pneumonias and other infections of the repiratory tract accompanying influenza and measles
Chart 1—Showing the relation of (_a_) onset of cases of pneumonia
shown by autopsy to be uncomplicated by secondary infection with
hemolytic streptococcus, indicated by upper continuous line with
single hatch, and of (_b_) onset of fatal cases of streptococcus
pneumonia, indicated by the lower continuous line with double hatch,
to (_c_) the occurrence of influenza, indicated by the broken line.
The onset of each case of fatal pneumonia is represented by a single
square.
]
Our study of ward infection in pneumonia furnishes an explanation of the
outbreak of fatal streptococcus pneumonia coincident with the initial
stage of the influenza epidemic. This outbreak is a true epidemic of
streptococcus infection superimposed, in many instances at least, upon
preexisting pneumococcus pneumonia, but in some instances, doubtless, a
primary streptococcus pneumonia, following the bronchitis of influenza.
In the absence of secondary streptococcus infection a very large
proportion of these individuals would have recovered. This epidemic of
streptococcus pneumonia, it has been shown, was the result of
unfavorable conditions produced by great overcrowding of the hospital
and in the early part of the epidemic by inadequate separation of those
with streptococcus infection from those with none. With control of these
conditions, streptococcus pneumonia rapidly diminished.
Greater susceptibility to pneumococcus pneumonia in the early than in
the late period of the epidemic is perhaps explained by differences in
the severity of influenza; the more susceptible individuals were
attacked by influenza in the early period, whereas the less susceptible
did not acquire the disease until they had been exposed to an immensely
increased number of infected individuals. A better explanation is
furnished by the greater opportunity at the beginning of the epidemic
for the transmission of microorganisms causing pneumonia, for at this
time patients with influenza were crowded together and methods to
prevent the transmission of infection were little used.
Bronchitis
Clinical study has shown that purulent bronchitis (see Fig. 2) occurs in
about one-third of the cases of influenza. In a large proportion of
cases of bronchitis there is no clinical evidence of pneumonia. The
bronchial lesions found in association with the pneumonia of influenza
are an index of the ability of the agent, which causes influenza, to
injure the bronchi.
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