THE WINTER COLDS.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 167, 16 July 1924, Page 4

THE WINTER COLDS.

NOT YET I ABSENCE OP ««__*«_, I WORST MONTHS AHEAjj, ' ; f Auckland appears to have _»..'■ gularly free from colds and w_?; I trouble this winter, despite ■£*_* I that it has been an abnormal I season. Certainly the continual -T" P days have not been associated I marked variations in the atfflo**-? I temperature, and on the few oca* i when "showing a leg" in has meant meeting an icy _]_«_♦' nindly rays of a warm sun have v dered the conditions sufficiently 'ijJ**' iating to counter the risks of »X" [Generally, Auckland commences to W , (and growl), clear its head and tW about July, and it maintains iU «_! against the climate until the end! October. The chemist and grocer a? pcnses patent medicines with con>_w regularity and sympathy. Wnue «o of the city dispensers utated „>£ that they had a steady sale f or J usual remedies (or resources), <rtw i agreed that business was not ,ai myj as in past winters. Still they had%_! given up hope altogether of reaping _,' ' usual harvest. The ordinary indfodiul however, remarks upon the interrupted pleasure he enjoys at the theatre,pictnj, show and other entertainments, *_J the chorus of noises, which betoken .tickling larynx or nose, is so discon. j sorting. | There is no need for the fastidioui traveller to protect himself from _~ millions of germs, which we are told are let loose when a fellow passenger sneezes or coughs. Neither is he ___ jected to the pungent odours bf eucalyptus and other the seasonal complaint. "Touch Wood" advised a medical nan whose opinion was sought on thU aspect of the community health. "Then jare several trying months ahead, and I this is the time when people should he particularly careful." As far as the more serious bronchial ! troubles are concerned, tie city has so j far this year been remarkably fortunate. In July, last year, there was a serious epidemic of "flu" of a pnemnonic description. In July alone 78 cases were notified to the Public Health Office, I bringing the total for the first sevea months of the year to 91. To date thia 'year there have been only two cam of pneumonic influenza notified; one from Mount Albert, and one froa Devonport. As for other seasonal maladies the only thing which appears to be disturbing the public health is the prevalencs of diptheria, which is manifesting itself slightly more than last winter. In Hay, 1923, 1; he number of notifications to the Public Health Office was 62, one less than last May, but in June there was a decided increase this year, the figum being-99 as against 63 in June, 1923.