THE INFLUENZA EPIDEMIC IN ITALY

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 173, 16 April 1919, Page 7

THE INFLUENZA EPIDEMIC IN ITALY

■A run i PHENOL AS A CUBE. '" i:ft ; . flfliil ! ■i\\,m,t - The Eev. Dr. Alexander Kobertson,.-$ Venice,-contributes the following signify article to "The Scotsman" of January 21:- :, ;s • The influenza epidemic, so prevalent o jp other lands, has by no means spared! :! sunny Italy. It has shown itself out her length find breaath, from t)j» Mediterranean to the Adriatic, and from; '. the Alps to Sicily. Indeed, the sunniest , parts have been its favourite hauntsj : Nowhere has it been so severe as along" the Jtiviera, and in Calabria and Sicily. Accurate statistics as to ils 'wages are : not obtainable ns yet, but medical men are unanimous in declaring that they ex r ; coed those of the war. \Ve know what these were. In round numbers half a rnillion were hilled ana a million wounded. In Italy, then, over a million and '; a half have' been attacked by this- epidemic, and over half a million Lave died. ! Its victims have been mainly amongst .; young people of from 18 to 30 years of • age. Elderly peoplo and young children.:have not by any means escaped, but not onlv have cases amongst them been com- . pnr'alively few, but they have proved less fatal. I need' not say that .medical men, throughout Italy] like' their colleagues ; in other lands, aro doing their best to '. combat the disease, although, like those . colleagues, with, I fear,, bat n limited measure of success. Some mystery about ■ it seems to baffle their labours and skill. Many remedies have been proposed, and I see boxes of pills and bottles: of mix- | hires labelled "Cure for- Influenza" being largely advertised, generally at what we niav call war prices. However, at a congress held the other • day at Genoa, at which were present, what the nowspaper called il More della . scienza-medica Genoese (the flower of Genoese medical science), one well-known doctor announced his "discovery as a cure, simple and.inexpensive'. ..in its nature, and, in his largo- oxperience, infallible in its results. This doctor was P. L. Barone, whose lioine is in Alassio, but he has also a. practice in Genoa, aucv as a consulting doctor ho has an < xtensive practice along the whole Riviera and throughout Northern Italy. The substance he uses for the cure <i this so-, oalled influenza is fenola (phenol), which, I suppose, is popularly known as pliemo acid or carbolic acid, an antiseptic and anaesthetic largely used by British pracj titioners, and many preparations of which are to be found in tho British Pharmacopoeia. After quoting Professor G. B. Dumas as having said in the French Academy:in 1873: "If we only ; ■knew the virtue of phenol, wo might face with impunity and dominate Hie most serious epidemic," and also quoting Pas-, teur Declat, Boame, Cantam, and the great Italian, Bncelli, who all spoke in a . similar strain, ho gave to the congress, . his own personal experience., lor over a year, he said, he had fought this mal- •■ ivdv and over a thousand.cases had como , under his care. .These, .were of ft most ~ varied nature, from. a simple cold or a, : licrht bronchitis or pneumonia to broncho-,; polmoniti, gastrainte, -.ostinalc, and acuta . nervous forms accompanied sometimes by- 1 a very high and sometimes, by a very i low temperature, with great depression.-. In all these varied-forms phenol, admin--; istered bw the mouth, by injection, and ' bv clyster, never failed' to give victory ; oils results. The dose was regulated aw. oording to the gravity of tho case and ' in the most serious of these by clyster;nnd by subcutaneous injection as nnieu : as six'grammes in 24 hours, without tho slightest inconvenience, on tho contrary, , with a speedy recovery. I do not know, ; if Dr. Barone's prescriptions may piovd . ut all useful to Scottish physicians, but • perhaps they mcy.-.Hmvo an mterest us throwing light oh ; a mode of cure now ; widely and successfully used ihroughout ; Italy. Pure phenol, lgrm.j distilled wator 200grni.j menthol, O.lOgrm. Dosei ■V tablespoonful every hour, for a cly- , stcr: A solution of phenol of 5 per cent, ,; -SOOgrms. in about half a litre of tepid ; water which had 'been boileo. ■ lo be? used every six or eight hours. In severe , cases, along with" the clyster there may j 1)0 used, camphorated oil of 10 per cent. : -%rmß., sterilised first and-then added : to" it of pure crystaliscd phenol 2grms. For subcutaneous injection, use a syringe ; which contains 5 centimetres nibic of above twice a day, during the period of Sometimes to know what not to give : a patient is hardly less important than to know what to give. I mentiontins.' becauso I have just read :n The Scotsman" a short account of what was Gone ; to fight the influenza at kroonstadt, in : the Orange Free Stale, where it seems to have been very bad. It says: In the , town soup and milk were tent out by motor-cars, and medicine distributed. In ; Ihe outlying districts stocks of simple remedies (were) carried for distribution ■ anion" the sufferers, including, dismfectant salts, quinine, iodine, isporme, camphor oil. and poulticing '"'itenal. Notwithstanding this (or shal it lie thought, in consequence of lti'J. doctors were down, nurses were down, und.alsG the town apothecaries, for it so happens : that in Italy most of these things are e.v pressly forbidden patients. At the Genoa ' Conference Dr. Barcne t:aul:-"there , must on no account be given beet teaj > milk and eggs. These things are most pernicious. Also all poulticiugs and treatments of that nature must be avoided. The right things to give ere yege- ; table soups with no fats, coffee, liglit tea with brandy or marsala, raw and cooked fruit, much water, and plenty fresh air." General Diaz, I have just been informed, who had a rather,severe attack of influenza, is. now well, having made a speedy and satisfactory recovery; under Dr. Barone's treatment.