THE DANGER OF NEGLECT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17251, 29 August 1919, Page 9

THE DANGER OF NEGLECT.

ATTACKS OF INFLUENZA. DEPARTMENTAL CIRCULAR. The danger involved in neglecting to take proper precautions i n the case of an attack of influenza, is emphasised in a [circular to householders which has been i published by the Public Health Department. Up to the present a supply of the i circulars h3s not been received by *the | Auckland office of the Department, but [several residents of this city have received copies through the post. Reference is made in the circular to the necessity for -ventilated, airy bedrooms, and good, nourishing food." A recent memorandum of the Eoyal College of Physicians is quoted as saying: "Alcoholic i excess invites disaster; within the limits of moderation each person will be wise to maintain unaltered whatever habit experience hafe proved to be most agreeable to his 'health." The circular states that a simple throat gargle for ordinary use is made by adding 20 drops of liquor sods chlorinates to a tumbler of warm water. A solution -of common table-salt, one teaspoonful to a pint of warm water, to which is added enough permanganate oJ potash to give the liquid a pink colour (one part of permanganate in 5000) is suitable either as a gargle or ' for washing ihe nasal passages. For the I latter, a little of the (liquid may be I poured into the hollow palm of the hand j or into a small shallow receptacle like the I lid of a small tin, and snuffed or drawn j up the nostrils. Throat-gargling and ' nose-washing, night and morning, or more frequently, are recommended as preventive measures, though their importance should' not be over-rated. They may be employed with special advantage on returning home after exposure to infection in a crowd or close contact with an infected person. Precautions that should be observed during a period of influenza prevalence are enumerated in the circular. Since last Monday 10 cases of influenza, all of a mild type, have been notified to the district health officer. They com- ' prise two cases in the city area, two at Qpehunga, and one each at Mount Kden, Eden Terrace, Epsom, Grey Lynn, Waihi and Te Kuiti. The Auckland district health officer considers the position locally fairly satisfactory. He stated yesterday that one undoubted remecly was for a stricken person) to go to bed directly on the outset lof the disease. Many people made a grave mistaka in leaving their beds' too soon after an attack.