EUROPEAN EPIDEMIC

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 17, 21 January 1927, Page 10

EUROPEAN EPIDEMIC

LOCAL PRECAUTIONS

MINISTERIAL REVIEW

A Ministerial statement concerning the influenza epidemic in Europe was made this afternoon by the Minister of Health (the Hon. J. A. Young).

"In view of the. disquieting news appearing almost daily in the cablegrams from Europe," said Mr. Young, "and the consequent public uneasiness lest severe epidemic influenza should again appear awoi.gst us, it is desirable perhaps to summarise briefly the position <=£ it affect New Zealand.

"When it became evident that there was an unusual occurrence of influenza in Europe, the Director-General of Health drew the attention of the officers of his Department to the fact. He instructed the port health officers that they were to adopt rigorous inspection of all ships from overseas, particularly Europe, and to withhold pratique in the case of ships arriving with influenza on board or the history of epidemic influenza at an earlier stage of the voyage. In the case of such ships the circumstances are to be-reported to the Medical Officer of Health,. who shall then personally investigate the matter. Upon receipt of a report from the latter officer, the Director-General will then decide what quarantine measures, partial or complete, are to be imposed. Medical Officers of Health have also been instructed to satisfy themselves that the quarantine stations are able to be •opened up at a moment's notice to accommodate crow and passengers of any ship requiring to be quarantined. They have also been asked to satisfy themselves that the local organisations are in readiness to cope with the outbreaks of influenza which may occur within New Zealand.

The Department and the public are

better organised to-day than at any

Time j before ,to deal with influenza should we be so unfortunate as to

suffer from this disease. Our quarantine stations in Auckland and "Wellington are well equipped, and can accommodate at a few hours' notice some four hundred to five hundred people in reasonable comfort. Our local epidemic machinery has been tested in the recurring winter epidemics of recent years, particularly those of 1920 and last year.

NOT THE 1918 TYPE.

'' Official advice received in regard to the nature and course of the epidemic in Europe is by no means so alarming as the cabled news appearing in the daily papers. On the 7th January a 'cable was dispatched to the High Commissioner asking him to consult the British Ministry of Health and to advise the distribution and extent of the epidemic, and whether the cases were of the, l&J 8 pandemic type or of a type such as New Zealand has experienced recently, more particularly in the winters of 1920 and 1926. The reply from, the High Commisisoner, under date of 10th; instant, was to the effect that figures for Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, and Hungary showed no noteworthy increase, but increases were reported from France and Switzerland; that 55 deaths had occurred in Paris for the fortnight ending 11th December, 150 for the, fortnight ending 25th December; that Switzerland reported a large increase in cases (from 513 to 4107) for the , same period, but few deaths; that in England and Wales at the date of.his message there had been as yet no outbreaks of any magnitude, but as.is usual at this time of the year colds were! fairly prevalent, though death returns in 105 great towns, including Lorndon, showed these are not of a serious nature. He concluded by stating that the type so far presented, no resemblance to that of 1918, arid that the mortality was mainly confined to people -of advanced age. The High Commissiomer has been instructed to forward s» weekly report to New Zealand so long as the prevalence of influenza continues in Europe. His latest report, dated 14th January, states that the precejding week's figures for influenza show a considerable rise in number of deaths in the United Kingdom; for the 105 great towns there were 172 deaths for the week ending Bth January, as against 86 for the week ending 18th January, while in London there were 72 (deaths as against 17. This numr ber is equivalent to twelve for New Zealand's population. For purposes of comparison it may be stated that there were 32 deaths in New Zealand in the worst week of the influenza epidemic of 1920, arid 22 deaths in 1926.

POSITION FAIRLY SATISFACTORY.

"The position in New Zealand to-day is fairly satisfactory. Only the severer forms ocf influenza (pneumonic, septicaemic, fulminant influenza) are notifiable and the Department for this reason does not have any reliable source of information in regard to the incidence and extent of the minor forms of the disease.

"Thie reported words of several prominent; public citizens in Wellington," continued the Minister, "to the effect that Government medical officers had stated' that influenza would not come to New Zealand could not be justified, as no responsible ofiicer of the Health Department had at any time made such a statement.

"The 1 notifications for the severe types, however, for the last eight weeks for the whole of the Dominion are as follow:— Cases. Deaths. Week onding.29th November, 1926 o 1 Week, ending 6th December 1 0 |-Week ending 13th December o 0 Week ending 20th December .... i 0 Week ending 27th December 3 2 Week ending 3rd January, ■ 1027 .;.' o 0 Weelc ending 10th January 2 1 Weak ending 17th January 2 0 "These figure^ are normal, and so far as they go indicate a satisfactory position. Medical men in practice, however, state jjiat they are seeing a certain amount of gastric influenza and other irregular forms, and it is, of c.outso, impossible to say from the evidenvce at present before us, whether these latter cases have any relationship to -the epidemic which is at present occurring in Europe, or whether they arfee from our own endemic strains. NO STONE TTNTTJRNED. "I am advised that influenze is notoriously a tricky disease, and he is a raeh man who professes to read 'tl-.e future where influenza is concerned. It would be unwise to dogmatiso as to the course events may take. Thero are, however, some reasons to believe tJiat New Zealand will not be affected ill the same way and to the same extent as Europe is at present. In the first place it is well known that the secondary epidomics in influenza periods show a marked tendency to reappear in the winter months. At present this is the European winter, and the disease is therefore running true to type. In the second placo, New Zealand has had recurring winter epidemics for some year 3 past, and there is therefore some reason to believe that our population has, by this means, been to a certain extent immunised against the disease. It will be remembered that it was.only last winter that

influenza was very widespread and caused considerable distress in some towns particularly Christchurch. Be this as it may it would be most injudicious to rely upon any problematical factors of this typo, and the Department is leaving no stone unturned to prevent the importation of infection from overseas and to limit any outbreak which may occur in New Zealand."