INFLUENZA

Greymouth Evening Star, 15 December 1943, Page 6

INFLUENZA

WIDESPREAD IN EUROPE LONDON, December 13. ‘‘lnfluenza is seriously affecting war production. The Minister, , of Health has called for total mobilisation to fight the epidemic,” says the “Daily Mail.” “A circular calling for

the full use of borough and rural resources lias been circulated throughout Britain. It suggests the formation of mutual help squads ready to nurse or shop for patients. In some centres the Minister has called on Red Cross organisations to provide nurses for homes where all the inmates are ill. “Influenza is also reported to be widespread in France, Belgium and Northern Italy.” RAVAGES IN ITALY LONDON, December 14. The influenza epidemic is spreading rapidly in German-controlled Northern Italy, reports the British United Press correspondent on the Italian frontier. /Already thousands of Italians have died and the death-roll may rise to unprecedented figures. Hundreds of thousands of Italian men, women and children bombed out of their homes are living in the open in temperatures of five to eight degrees below freezing point. They lack adequate medical equipment and proper food. Over 30,000 cases are reported in Milan alone. The hospitals everywhere are jammed with the most serious cases. The Germans are ruthlessly abandoning the Italian civilians to their fate. Thousands of German soldiers arriving in Northern Italy are receiving priority treatment immediately they become victims.