INFLUENZA.

Otago Witness, Issue 3430, 9 December 1919, Page 48

INFLUENZA.

MILD OASES IN AUCKLAND. AUCKLAND, December 1. Ninety-seven cases of influenza were notified in the Auckland Health District during the week ended noon to-day, together with 20 cases of pneumonia. For 48 hours ended noon to-day, 20 cases of influenza were notified, 12 being in the city, also six cases of pneumonia, including three Natives in the Bay of Plenty. December 2. Twenty-four, cases of influenza were notified in the Auckland health district during tho 24 hours ended at noon to-day. These comprised nine in the city and 15 in the country. In addition, five cases of pneumonia were reported—four in the city and one in the country. All the influenza cases were stated to bo of a mild nature. December 4-. Twelve cases of influenza were notified in the Auckland Health District during the 24 hours ended noon to-day, six being in the city and six 'in the country. , There was only one severe case. There were also three cases of pneumonia, two being reported from the country. SATISFACTORY POSITION IN WELLINGTON. WELLINGTON, December 2. During the week ended at noon on December 1, '7O cases of influenza were reported in the Wellington health district. Only four cases were of the pneumonic type, the remainder being classed as mild. Dp Watt, district health offioer, expressed the opinion that the position was quite satisfactory.

STATEMENT BY CHIEF HEALTH OFFICER. NO CAUSE FOR ALARM. WELLINGTON, December 4. A statement regarding the cases of influenza reported in the dominion lately was made by the, Acting Chief Health Officer (Dr Makgill) to-day. The department has been watching closely the development of influenza in the Auckland and Wellington provinces during the last three weeks. The disease has shown a slight* tendency to revive. At no time has it taken on a form of general epidemic, but in certain areas an increase in catarrhal disease, due doubtless to weather conditions, has been shown. " It is quite probable that about this time every year the same thing happens, but hitherto neither influenza nor pneumonia has been notifiable, so we cannot compare the figures with the previous The heaviest return for one week throughout the whole dominion has been 220 cases. That number is, of course, distributed, and does not call for any alarm. With the increase of influenza there has' been a coincident increase in pneumonia. This is invariably, the case in all oountries in the world, and means really that causes that tend to increase one type of catarrhal disease tend also to increase others. The daily record of the last few days shows, that in all parts' of the dominion influenza is decreasing again, and I have no reason for fearing that an epidemlo is pending. At the end of August a similar increase in influenza and pneumonia occurred, but after three weeks it died down again, iust as it is doing now, illustrating how little in the way of an epidemio there is. I may mention that in the whole of the Wellington publio health district, including Hawke's Bay, Nelson, and Taranaki, for 24- hours ended noon to-day there were but seven cases of influenza notified. The proportion of cases of a severe type does not appear to bo increasing; in fact, in Auckland and Waikato the returns have shown that practically all the oases are of the mildest description—so mild, indeed, that inspectors informed me that on visiting the houses they invariably found the people themselves did not regard the trouble as other than just an ordinary cold. Of course, it is difficult to draw /t hard and fast line between a feverish cold and an attack of influenza, and. in dealing with returns notified as influenza one has to make allowance for this difficulty. Therefore the actual figures on the notification list may be somewhat misleading, but the important tiling Is to keep a check on influenzal conditions, which show a marked tendency to pneumonio complications. These fortunately are , not common. Personally, I think it is improbable we shall ever again be visited with such an epidemio as we had last year, as the conditions leading up to that epidemic were most exceptional. Doubtless we shall have epidemics of influenza again, but they will probably be of a mild type.

(By Cable.) PAErS, December 1. French medical writers attribute the outbreak of influenza in its severest form among women to the wearing of silk stockings. One doctor declares that He has several well-defined cases of female trench feet, which he believed to be due to women splasing along the Boulevards almost barefooted in the severest weather.

MELBOURNE, December 1. The Federal quarantine authorities, commenting upon the New Zealand health authorities > cable message that the outbreak of influenza is of a mild nature, deprecate a recrudescence, and say that there is no reason for assuming that another serious outbreak will occur next year.

HOBART, December 3. Sixteen fresh cases of pneumonic influenza have been notified, 14 of them being at Zeehan.