INFLUENZA.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 December 1919, Page 4

INFLUENZA.

POSITION NOT ABNORMAL. NO EPIDEMIC LIKELY. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night A statement in regard to the cases of influenza reported in the Dominion lately was made by the Acting-Chief Health Officer, Dr. Makgill, to-day. "The Department has been watching c'osely the development of influenza \n Auckland and Wellington provinces," h said. During the last three weeks 'the disease has shown a slight tendency to revive, but at no time has it taken on the form of a general epidemic, but in, certain areas an increase in catarrhal iiseases, due doubtless to weather conditions, has been shown, It is quit's piobable that about this time every year the samo thing happens, but hitherto neither .influenza nor pneumonia has been notifiable, so we cannot compare figures with previous years. The heaviest return for one week has been 220 cases. That number is, of course, distributed and does not call for any alarm. "With the increase of influenza there has been a coincident increase in pneumonia. This is invariably the case in all countries in the world, and means really that the causes that tend U increase one. disease tend also to increase others. The daily record of the,last few days shows that in a'.l parts of the Dominion influenza . ia r decreasing again, and I have no reason for fearing that an epidemic ib pending: At the end of August a similar increase in influenza and pneumonia occurred, bui after three weeks it died down.

"Illustrating how little in the way of an epidemic there is, I may mention that in the whole of the Wellington public health district, including Hawke's Bay, Nelson and Taranaki, for the 24 hours ended at noon to-day, there were but seven cases of influenza notified. The porportion of cases of a severe type does not appear to be increasing; in fact, in Auckland and the Waikato the returns have shown that practically all the cases are of the mildest description —so mild, indeed, that inspectors informed me that pn visiting houses they invariably found the people themselves did not regard the trouble as pthor I than an ordinary cold. Of course, -jt is difficult to draw a hard and, fast line between a feverish cold and the influenza, and in dealing with the returns notified as influenza one has, to make allowances for this difficulty. "Therefore the actual figures on the notification list may be somewhat misleading, but the important thing is to keep a check on the influenza conditions, which have showed a mlVked tendency to pneumonic complication. These, fortunately, are not common. Personally I think it is' improbable l we shall ever again be visited .with such an epidemic as we had last year, as the conditions leading up to that were most exceptional. Doubtless we shall have epidemics of influenza.aagin, but they will be probable of a mild type."