INFLUENZA CASES

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20080, 28 October 1939, Page 7

INFLUENZA CASES

10 PER CENT AFFECTED TROOPS AT TRENTHAM PRECAUTIONS TAKEN (Per Press Association.) WELLINGTON, this clay. Commenting on the presence of influenza at Trentham camp, the officer commanding the central military district, Colonel Puttick, said that out of a strength of 1800 men there were about 150 cases of influenza of the usual spring-time type, which was so prevalent at the present time among the civilian population. It had also been experienced among the troops at Fort Dorset and Mount Victoria. So far about 10 per cent of the men had reported sick with this complaint. Active steps were taken immediately to deal with the situation. There were four medical officers normally at the camp, and, if necessary, these would be increased. The camp hospital was now in full operation and other buildings, including a former hospital building, were in use to accommodate the patients. Trained nurses of the army nursing service were in attendance and nursing orderlies from the field ambulance were being provided. The food supplied to the men on the sick list is in accordance with the directions of medical officers. During the convalescent stage of approximately a week, the men arc accommodated in huts to avoid any possibility of spreading the complaint through the barrack huts and tents.

As the hospital accommodation at the camp is necessarily limited, all the patients with high temperatures, who are likely to remain in hospital beyond the normal period, are sent to the Wellington Public Hospital. Apart from influenza the health of the men has been good. While influenza is present, however, special precautions ■are taken to avoid the men getting wet, and units are required to limit training activities to within a mile radius of the camp.

During the past two days the number of men reporting sick has been approximately 20 a day, so that so far the complaint shows no sign of increasing.

There is no foundation for the rumour that the sickness is due to the recent inoculation. The inoculation is the customary one against enteric fever and there is no connection between the two. The Director-General of Medical Services has given a definite assurance on this point.