The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED DAILY. THURSDAY, JULY 26, 1923. THE BIG LESSON OF THE INFLUENZA WAVE.

Gisborne Times, Volume LIX, Issue 9573, 26 July 1923, Page 4

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED DAILY. THURSDAY, JULY 26, 1923. THE BIG LESSON OF THE INFLUENZA WAVE.

The appearance ot ! another infiuun/.a wave in these Overseas Dominions is, naturally, causing a considcrahle amount oi' anxiety. What the health authorities suggest is that, so tar as New Zealand is concerned, the invasion this year is net unlike that which betel the Dominion in 1920. Li other words, the contention is that there are no grounds tor likening it to the terrible visitation of 1918. Still, for all that, the death roll so far in this country is by no means light and should awaken the people as a whole to the need that every possible precaution should be taken to prevent the disease spreading any further It will be noted from the oilicial statistics that have been published that the southern districts of this Dominion arc the chief sufferers from its ravages. That there should have been in the past week in the Otago Health District (which includes Southland) 53 fresh cases of influenza of the pneumonic type, with 19 deaths, represents a very sad state of affairs. The Canterbury Health District return shows an even greater number of cases of the disease in its severest foim, but, happily, deaths have been much fewer, it is quite clear that the prophecy that was made after the dreadful epidemic of 1918 ' —that influenza would probably reappear periodically in Various forms over a considerable number of years—was well founded. That, at any rate, has proved the experience of older countries. What probably accounts in large measure for the grip which the flu has taken on the southern districts is the fact that they had the misfortune, some weeks hack, to experience exceedingly stormy weather which brought in its train floods and ;i considerable amount of sickness. The important point which the authorities aie very properly endeavoring to impress upon the people is that nothing is more conducive to the development and spread of such diseases as iniiuenza than a lowered state of vitality. Maybe chiefly on account of its isolation, this district Ims, so far, remained singularly free this year of sickness akin to true iniiuenza. The warning that has been issued by the Health Department is, however, meant just as much for the people of Poverty Bay as for those in other portions of the Dominion. rf one may judge from the absence of any complaints in .Parliament, the health authorities are doing everything possible to prevent the spread of, and to stamp out, the disease. That aspect of the matter is, therefore, most satisfactory. What lias no doubt assisted greatly in coping with the disease is the fact that the lessons taught in connection with iho big epidemic of 1918 have not been overlooked.