MILD INFLUENZA

Wairarapa Times-Age, 28 October 1939, Page 8

MILD INFLUENZA

CASES IN TRENTHAM CAMP SPECIAL PRECAUTIONS TAKEN. SOME PATIENTS SENT TO CITY HOSPITAL. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. The presence of influenza at Trentham Military Camp was the subject of a statement yesterday by the Officer Commanding the Central Military District, Colonel E. Puttick, D. 5.0., who said that out of a strength of 1800 men there were about 150 cases of influenza at the camp. These cases were of the usual spring time type which was so prevalent at present among the civilian population. Colonel Puttick added that cases of influenza had also been experienced among the troops at Fort Dorset and Mount Victoria. So far, approximately 10 per cent of the men had reported sick with influenza, and active steps had been taken immediately to deal with the situation. “There are four medical officers normally at the camp, and, if necessary, these will be increased,” said Colonel Puttick. “The camp hospital is now in full operation, and other buildings, including a former hospital building, a cottage, and barrack huts, are in use to accommodate patients. Trained nurses of the New Zealand Army Nursing Service are in attendance, and nursing orderlies from the Field Ambulance are being provided. The food supplied to the men on the sick list is in accordance with the directions of the medical officers. During the convalescent stage of approximately a week, the men are 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 patients with a high temperature 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 their 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 the complaint shows no sign of increasing. “There is no foundation whatever for the rumour —which I understand' has been circulating—that the sickness is due to the recent inoculation. The inoculation is the customary ‘T.A.B.’ inoculation 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.”