THE EPIDEMIC.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16412, 4 January 1919, Page 10

THE EPIDEMIC.

DEATHS OF RETURNED SOLDIERS. QUESTION OF PENSIONS. Mr George Fache, Commissioner of Pensions, has given to "Quick Ma-rch" a clear explanation of the pension provision available in regard to the deaths of returned soldiers during' tho epidemic. It lias been remarked (writes Mr Fnche) that the recent epidemic, jn taking its toll from the people of the Dominion, has founds largo percentage oi its victims among the male tinn between the ages of twenty and" fifty, and by reason of this age period c'osely harmonising with that required for military service, it is but natural that wo have to mourn the loss of a l/ir2o numljor of members of the Expeditionary Forces, both discharged, and undischarged It was hard enough that the strong and healthy congregated in the various military camps should be blasted' by the inoiirgo. but doubly hard was it that those~ who had returned to us from oversea, after having passed through rhe lierv furnace of the greatest war in history," should have to face with weakened constitutions this further ordeal. Tt is wi+h the view of stating, as far ns is pos-sih'e at tho present time, how I far war can be associated with cler.th or disablement from the epidemic that these few lines are written. To the AVar Pensions Board, which has the administration of the war pensions legislation as its car", a problem has been .«~c, tho determination of which, in all iis phases, will havfe far-reaching consequences. For the purpose of considering the matter in all its bearings. a. sne-nal meeting of the Board has alTendv been held, at which typical instances from at least seven different, classes of case arising from the epidemic were dealt with, and the enumeration of ihepe will no doubt assist renders in knowing what there is to know. To begin with, let it be stated, in regard to the widows and children of those who'ha.vo lost their lives in camp while in receiot of military pay, that they are-entitled .as a master of. rightI to the full pension provided by the i schedule of the War Pensions Act, on application being made on the prescribed form to any Registrar of Pensions. or cl'rp'-t to the Commissioner of Pensions, Wellington. To any other de pendants of these, the Act als« applies with the usual conditions relating to dependence and means of support. The classes of cases dealt with and the decision arrived at were:— (1) Soldier died in camp on military pay; application from widow.—Pension granted. (2) Soldier in military hospital from date 'of discharge, soldier and wife in . receipt of full pension on account of phthisis when husband died; application from widow.—Pension granted. (3) Soldier discharged six months and in receipt of three-fourths pension for chest trouble, wife also receiving pension ; died in temporary hospital; application from widrw.—Pension granted. (4) Soldier discharged eighteen months and in receipt of three-fourths pension at death for chest trouble, wife's pension had ceased; application from widow.—Pension granted." (5) Soldier discharged sir months and in receipt of one-fourtli pension for chest trouble, aggravated by service; admitted to temporary hospital with influenza. —Fullt pension granted to husband and wife for total disablement.

_ (fi) Soldier discharged from overseas eighteen months; applied' for pension August, 1918, and appeared before Board; found to have no disability, and no pension granted; application from widow.—Pension declined. (7) Soldier discharged nine jrionths, awarded final grant of one-fourth pen-, aion for injury to ankle; no incapacity in August, 1918, prior to death; application from mother.—Pension declined. v It might- he added that these decisions in specific cases do not necessarily apply to all cases which. appear to be similar. Generally speaking, the Board lias decided that each case of death and disablement arising from the epidemic •will have to be decided on its inTividual merits, on application being lodged. TARANAKI'S DEATH ROLL. (PRESS association telegram.) NEW PLYMOUTH, Januarw 3. The vital statistics show 115 deaths in November and December against 34 in the corresponding months of the previous year, indicating about 8" deaths due to the influenza epidemic. Many, however, were brought from outside registration districts for treatment at the local hospital. DEATHS IN PALMERSTON NORTH. (press association telegeam.) ■ NEW PLYMOUTH, January 3. The vital statistics for November and December disclose 160 deaths 'in Palmerston North. Of this number 135 were due to influenza. For 1918 there i were 325 deaths recorded, against' 170 in 1917. Reports have been inct circulation (says the Taranaki "Daily News" of Tuesday last) that a second "wave" of the epidemic is descending upon 'certain parts of Taranaki. ..This is not so. It has arisen lately in the Opunake district, which escaped lightly before, because it had not been effectively "stamped out. The comparative immunity the district enjoyed before led no doubt to a relaxation of precautions and a weakening of tlio attacking forces. This is proved by the fact that in one house on the other side of the township there were no fewer than fourteen cases. A vigorous form of inspection, etc., would have prevented any such possibility. The district is- suffering now because of its over-confidence.

INOCULATION A SUCCESS. At a recent conference at the War Office it jyas agreed that inoculation with a suitable vaccine might be expected to be of value, but it was preferable to carry out the inoculations before exposure to infection. Children under the age of three should not be inoculated (says a London paper of October 27fcn). Colonel O'Neill, the commandmant of the New Zealand Military Hospital at Walton-on-Thames, informed a pressman that all the staff of the hospital, together with many hundreds- of the patients, had been inoculated against influenza, witb the result that the enidemic had little effect upon the hosmtal. The New Zealand Army medical authorities are taking measures to inoculate everv New Zealand soldier in Great -Britain. THE OUTBREAK IN SOUTH AFRICA. ' The following extract from a letter received by Mr C. R. Chapman, of Dunedin, from a resident Magistrate in the town of Alexandria, not far from Port Elisabeth, South Africa, dated November Ist, has been placed at our disposal:— '"I must write and tell you of the terrible time we've had and are still having here and throughout the district owing to the epidemic of so-called Spanish influenza. It has swept through this little dorpie, leaving not a house that I know of u,nvisited, and there have been many ' deaths both among the Europeans and coloured. Oar one doctor, the only one in the whole district", has collapsed through overwork and anxiety. I had a slight ilttaek, which kept me in the house

for a week. . My clerk is down with it, and the office messenger was laid up for 14 days. The disease has piaycd, and still is playing, havoc among tho coloured peoples and natives. Scores of theia have died owing chiefly to their filthy habits and herding together at night in their huts. They cannot be made to understand the efficacy of fresh air and .wen rudimentary rules of cleanliness. The consequence is when once they contract the disease they Btand very little chance of recovery. It is not only this insignificant corner of the Union which is affected, but as perhaps your papers have reported, the whole country—Capetown, Port Elizabeth, and all the large towns—have paid a heavy prico in and tho end is not yet. We were talren quite unawares, and -it was not for quite week after the outbreak that any effectual means were obtainable to counteract the scourge. I said it is so-called Spanish influenza, but it is without doubt the worst form of influenza ever known, and certain medical men hold the opinion that it is more a form pneumonic very few people recovering when the disease attacks the lungs. I quite expected an attack, and. therefore took the precaution of being inoculated as soon as we could get. a supply of vaccine, and think it was that that gave me the slight attack. I have been done again, and hope that I shall get along all right now, and I've undertaken the contract of the systematic inoculation of-the whole district. " - It is only by such means that we can hope. to combat and control the spread of the disease, there being no doubt that inoculation, as vaccination for small-pox, is a very great assistance in arresting and minimising tho viru- j lence of the scourge.