Influenza : $b An epidemiologic studyVaughan, Warren T. (Warren Taylor)
History
Influenza : $b An epidemiologic study
Vaughan, Warren T. (Warren Taylor)
Influenza
Renon and Mignot studied 141 cases of influenza (71 men and 70 women)
during January and February, 1920, at L’Hopital Necker. Fifteen of the
141 died. According to these observers the grip of 1920 attacked all
ages in contradistinction to the 1918 epidemic which affected especially
the young and vigorous. One-third of their group were over forty years
of age, while some were seventy and eighty years old. In spite of this
the disease remained relatively mild. Sixty-four were cases of simple
grip. Forty-three had associated bronchitis and pulmonary congestion and
edema. Twenty-seven had pneumonia. One had acute pulmonary edema. There
were cases of influenza in tuberculosis individuals. One developed an
acute serofibrinous pleurisy. One had purulent pleurisy, and one
meningitis.
In Copenhagen there occurred between the 18th and 24th of January, 1920,
1,204 cases of influenza with four deaths; in the following week, from
the 25th to the 31st of January, 7,445 cases with forty-two deaths; from
the 1st to the 7th of February, 11,038 cases with 207 deaths; from the
8th to the 14th of February, 8,308 cases and 327 deaths. This is to be
contrasted with the month of December, 1919, in which there were 1,845
cases of influenza in Denmark, of which only 272 were at Copenhagen. In
Christiania, Norway, during the week of January 25th to 31st, there
occurred eleven deaths from influenza, whereas during the preceding two
weeks there had not been a single death from this disease.
In December, 1919, there were reported in Switzerland only 511 cases of
influenza. During the month of January, 1920, this increased to 13,162,
and in February to 83,008, the estimated population being 4,000,000.
From February the disease decreased in prevalence. In Zurich, with a
population of 210,000, the epidemic resulted in 14,534 cases. The first
increase began around January 4th. The total number of cases for January
was 1,071. In February the records of the four weeks showed 2,721,
4,140, 3,341 and 1,899 cases, respectively; in March the decrease was
rapid, 886, 442 and 45 cases being reported in the first three weeks.
The total number of deaths, mostly due to pneumonia, was 229, a
mortality of 1.5 per cent.
During 1920 epidemics were also observed in Valencia, Santander and
other towns in Spain, and in Mexico City. In the latter city the number
of deaths was reported as 1,649, as contrasted with 3,000 in 1918.
INCUBATION PERIOD.
An accurate determination of the period of incubation in influenza
presents great difficulties. The large number of cases with the
consequent multiple opportunities for infection in the case of every
individual add to the difficulty. Under any circumstances the period is
very short. Parkes, many years before the 1889 epidemic, believed that
an incubative period sometimes exists; that it was sometimes very short
and sometimes of many days duration.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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