Influenza : $b An epidemiologic studyVaughan, Warren T. (Warren Taylor)
History
Influenza : $b An epidemiologic study
Vaughan, Warren T. (Warren Taylor)
Influenza
“The typical course of these cases may be exemplified by that of J. T.
W., a draftsman attached to the 29th Engineers. He was perfectly well
until May 20th, working regularly, his bowels and appetite normal,
considering himself healthy. On May 21st, at 4:30 A.M. he awoke with a
severe headache. He arose, forced himself to eat breakfast and tried to
go to work. He began to feel feverish and chilly. At the same time his
headache became worse, with pains in the back, and burning in the eye
balls. At 2 P.M. he reported sick, and was taken to the hospital with a
temperature of 102.8 degrees. At midnight his temperature dropped to
101.6 degrees, and came down to normal by noon of the 22d. As he
recovered he developed a slight sore throat, great soreness of the legs
and a very slight cough. He recovered completely within a few days.
“These cases with a few exceptions developed no rashes. One or two of
them had blotchy red eruptions which we felt incompetent to characterize
dermatologically. The leucocyte counts ranged from 5,000 to 9,000. A
very few went above this. Sometimes there was a relative increase of
lymphocytes, but this was by no means regular. The few spinal fluids
that were examined were normal. As to enlargement of the spleen, we can
say nothing definitely.
“Soon after this we observed the disease in a Division, the 42d, then
holding a part of the line in front of Baccarat. Here it had already
developed a somewhat different nature, due, we believe, to the fact that
the men of this Division were not, as were those at Chaumont, living in
a rest area, but were actively engaged in military operations, working,
sleeping, and eating under conditions that involved greater fatigue,
less protection against weather, and greater crowding in sleeping
quarters. The Baccarat cases were much more frequently catarrhal; sore
throats, coughs and more serious respiratory complications were more
common. However, they were usually coupled unmistakably with an
underlying typical influenzal attack, sudden onset, pains and short
lived fever. Moreover, there were a great many of the entirely
uncomplicated cases interspersed with the others.
“Still later, in September, October and November, respiratory
complications were so frequent and severe, came on so early in the
disease, and the pneumonia mortality became so high, that the
fundamental identity of these later cases with the early three-day fever
might easily have been lost sight of by observers who had not followed
the gradual transformation.
“In consideration of these facts, it is apparent that etiological or
other investigations can throw no light upon the problems of influenza
unless they are carried out with clearer understanding of the
differentiation between the complications and the basic disease.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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