The Mystery of Influenza.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17106, 30 March 1921, Page 6

The Mystery of Influenza.

| " The cause of the disease is a problem ! " which still remains unsolved." Theso aro tho words of Sir Georgo Newman, Chief Medical Officer of the British Ministry of Health, in his introduction to the Report on the Pandemic of Influenza, 1918-19, issued last month by the Ministry. The report, which is summarised in recent English papers, was drawn up by a number 01 scientific and medical experts of acknowledged authority, and is described as a record of a mass of admirable, laborious, and well-co-ordinated scientific work—"a "compendium of all that is known and "unknown about the disease." The field of researdh and study that presented itself to tho investigators was a vast one. The-scourge that swept over a great part of the world in 1018-19 claimed in some six months more victims than fell in all the yeare of the great war: in England and Wales alon9 the deathroll reached a total of 151,466. Nor do these figures, appalling though thay are, indicate tho full measure of its ravages. The mortality among young men was especially heavy-, and a severe tax was thus laid upon the productive power of tho nation, while tho fact thau enormous numbers of men and women who escaped with their lives did so with constitutions permanently shattered or greatly enfeebled, means that for many years to come the nation will suffer from the effects of the epidemic. One of the most dismaying features of the epidemic, noted in the report and observed here as. at Home, was that it manifested itself alike in crowded areas and in districts normally favourable to (health. Isolation, though a barrier to the disease, did not afford immunity from attack. Yet owing to the tact that the infection of influenza "appears " to be conveyed by the recretions of "the respiratory surfaceiy," transmitted through the air by coughing, Bneezing, or even loud talking, it is clear, as' the report points out, that t)ho closer the bodily contact the more readily will infection occur, "hencQ the paramount " importance of reducing the opportuni"ties of infection by avoiding ovei*-- * crowding and thronging of every sort, "whether in places of public resort, "public conveyances, or factories." Tho adoption of these precautions was resented by numbers of people in Christchurdh, but in that 'respect, ancl in the,advocacy of • ventilation and of gargling and the übo of a nasal wash, the advice of the New Zealand Health Department was exactly similar to the suggestions of the body of experts responsible for tho report under notice. These experts do not pretend to state the cause to which the disease is attributable, and that being so they can hold out no hope that it may not recur. Sir .George Newman himself declares that the prospect is gloomy. "The conclusion to which " we are led," say the compilers of the report, "is that the generation of a " great pestilence such *s influenza or " pneumonic plague is dependent upon '' disturbance of social order, involving' " for absolutely large numbers of " human beings the endurance of condi"tiona of insalubrity which afford for "invading parasites a suitable field of " modification. . . , No impartial spec"tator can doubt that at the present " time, . and almost certaiply for a " generation* to come, there will exist "in many nations and over wide tracti " otjeountry precisely the tyjje of misery "which wo suspect to be the appro- " priate forcing house of a virulent "and dispersive germ." That ''type of "misery" referred to exists to-day in China, Russia, and Austria, to mention only three countries in which large numbers of the population are suffering from famine and the diseases that so often accompany or follow famine. Against the pandemics to .which these conditions may give rise "the only sure ".defence," we are told, "is to raise the "whole standard of. the life of the " nation, indeed, of the whole comity "of nations." We suspect that if" pressed upon this point, Sir George Newman'" would not - maintain that a higher standard of comfort and wellbeing* would constitute an absolutely " sure defence" against an enemy that iiivades the mansion as readily as the hovel. But it is reasonable to believe that the fewer hovels and "mean "streets" there are, the fewer footholds will be afforded the disease. ".There is no ground for despair," conynentß Sir James Crichton Browne. There never was. So far certainly, the doctors are baffled, but as is claimed the report affords a solid basis for study and research, especially in connexion with "common colds." In the meantime, When an epidemic again, occurs, it well' to remember that much may be accomplished by the avoidance of panic, alike in communities and individuals. ■ Punk ' is' the strongest of all invitations to attack.

average was about 125 per cent, above the level of July, 1914, the cost of living rose continuously until .November Ist, at which date the increase was approximately 176 per cent." Prices then began to recede. The total fall in the two months to December 31st amounted to 11 points. There was thus a net riso during the year of 10 points, of which 30 accrued in the three months April, May, and October. "The ii creases in April and October were mainly due to the reductions of the bread subsidy, and that in May was accounted for chiefly by advances in the prices of sugar and ,coai." tsincc the beginning of the year prices must have receded by another 24 points. They have still a long way to fall if they are to justify the belief of the Employers' Federation, which if it came from any other source would be regarded as too optimistic. ♦ If Mr Massey could spare the time, it might be worth his while when at Home to run across to New York and consult Mr Miller, the Governor of New York State on the art of retrenching Government expenditure. Governor Miller took office at the beginning of the year, having promised to save the State seventy-fivo million dolLars, say, fifteen millions sterling, in the first year of ; his administration. Everybody said it was impracticable, a good'many, probably office-holders, declared it to be impossible, but in two months the budget for the current year was cub down from 205 million to 130 million dollars. More than 800 useless jobs were cut off the State pay-toll, and some 400 or 500 more were awaiting amputation. Whole Departments were being extinguished without hurting the machinery of government. .The economy policy extended to the smallest and most remote branch of the State service. * ■■ Much of the credit of this wholesalo pruning appears to belong to Senator Hewitt, the chairman of the Seuato Finance Committee. He is obviously one of those men who does things while other men would be talking about doing them, and also one of the class who cares nothing for precedents. We judge so, at least, by the manner in which he went about his job. After about a month of retrenchment, the process seemed to have come to a full stop when only 45 million dollars had been cut off the budget. He was told by everyone that that was at low as it could possibly go. "Is it?"-remarked the Senator; "you just watch me." "Then," we read, "he safc down at his telephone and sent out word to the head of every Department and Bureau that they must get busy and cut a few thousand more out.of their Depurtment estimates or their jobs would not be safe. There was a roar of protest: 'I have got to have 150,000 dollars to' repair tho roofs of buildings, in my Department,' said the head of one Department. 'You' get 30,000 dollars,' the Senator answered." The departmental head grew angry. He told the Senator that his ' was a poor kind of economy, and asked w£at was the sens'e of saving 100,000 dollars if leaky roofs were going to do 200,000 dollars' worth of damage. The Senator's only reply was that the sum he had allowed would make every roof in the Department watertight, and if any leaks did even lOjOOO dollars' worth of damage., "I tell you, confidentially, that-1 wouldn't give a nickel for your job." The.latest report'indicates that the departmental head, being able to take a hint of that kind, was at once satisfied that the 30,000 dollars allowed him would do the job. It would be interesting to learn how thofe Senator ■would go about the task of reducing expenditure on the public services of Now Zealand.