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Evening Star, Issue 16848, 25 September 1918, Page 4

Are we jroing to escape tho dread- Spanish influenza bacillus? asks & London writer in an exchansro. Tho oreatuTe Is the- smallest microbe known, but he works in. the inverse ratio to his size. Bavin,? exorciw;d his capacity for mischief in Madrid nnd elsewhere, Iw lias come to London. Scores, hundreds, and thousands of Londoners tho hourly falling victims to tho Bcourw?. A cold in the head, a, sore throat, and lastly fever are tho symptoms . Th«? only cure seems to be bed, though doses of eucalyptus, cinnamon, and quinine are useful in the early stapes of the complaint. But the real object of sending thejnvalid to bed is to prevent the spread of infection. The smallest microbe known is a terror for perpetuating his-End. A conscientious patient should remain in a lonely bedroom for at least five days. Unfortunately there are too few conscientious patients, or they b?-;ome conscientious too late. The latest influenza outbreak is proving remarkably cO'stacious, and it is estimated that 8,000,000 people may be laid low before the epidemic wis. If so, a hundred thousand working years will be lost, having a money valu« of over £20.000,000,' not to mention the cost of medicine and doctors' bilk. And all this on account of " the smallest microbe in the world." Fortunately tho epidemic is niild in character. A day or so in bed and a day or two mow of isolation ustiallj effect a cure.