Studies on Epidemic Influenza: Comprising Clinical and Laboratory InvestigationsUniversity of Pittsburgh. School of Medicine
History
Studies on Epidemic Influenza: Comprising Clinical and Laboratory Investigations
University of Pittsburgh. School of Medicine
Influenza; Influenza Epidemic, 1918-1919
As we emphasized previously, the problem presented in the army hospital
and in civilian practice is a little different. We have had some
experience with both sides. Fortunately, the greater part of our work
was with the Student Army Training Corps, where army conditions were
more or less carried out. There was never any difficulty in getting
donors. In fact, the idea of giving blood appealed to these young
fellows. In civilian life it is, in our experience, a more difficult
problem. The usual personnel of the public ward has always its fair
percentage of positive Wassermann reactors, and the type of individual
is quite different from the young soldier. For a relative or friend we
could easily get a donor, but this group would cover only a small
percentage of the cases one wished to treat. The technique of giving
blood can be reduced to a very simple procedure, and by no means should
be regarded as a difficult surgical undertaking. Combining the receiving
apparatus of Ross and Hund (J. A. M. A., 72, 1919, p. 642) with the
syringe method for giving the blood which we suggested in our previous
article makes an ideal arrangement.
The results depend upon the time of treatment. The earlier the pneumonia
is recognized the better are the chances of recovery. It is our belief
that the majority of influenza cases which kept a fairly high
temperature for more than four days had a lung lesion, even if we could
not make out definite consolidation. As the convalescent influenza serum
may have value only for the influenza infection, it would, therefore,
appear but logical that a late pneumonia which almost always has other
organisms present would not react as favorably. We have seen very few of
the deeply cyanotic type recover even with serum. The essential rule is
to treat them before this stage develops.
We have observed little or no change in the leucocyte count, even after
successful treatment, and taking our group as a whole we are rather
surprised at this result. Other observers have noticed a marked increase
in the leucocytes as the case reacted favorably to the injections. We
agree with McGuire and Redden that the patients with counts below
10,000, as a rule, show the best results. This possibly indicates that
the influenza infection is predominating, and that the usual secondary
invaders (pneumococcus and streptococcus) are at this time playing but a
little part. Hence the value of early treatment is apparent.
From the published results of different workers and our own experience,
we feel that influenza immune serum or whole citrated blood given early
in the pneumonia is of undoubted value—in fact, almost specific. If the
epidemic reappears next year, unless some other better method is
forthcoming, we would advise its more general use, and would suggest the
collection of pooled serum as early as possible in the epidemic.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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