MORE ABOUT THE “COMMON COLDS.”

Otago Witness, Issue 3755, 2 March 1926, Page 77

MORE ABOUT THE “COMMON COLDS.”

We referred last week to the “common cold,” and, as this is a subject which, as the newspapers state, “is always with us,” the letter in the Lancet by Dr John Alexander Drake, D.P.H., is of great interest. He writes in that great medical journal:— “The season of ‘colda’ is at hand; indeed, an epidemic has been already reported. Tt is a curious fact that the general public has not realised that the common application of the world 'cold* is a complete misnomer and, moreover, actually misleading. “There is a disarming simplicity about the word, and in the public mind it is associated with ‘draughts,’ ‘cold winds,

and so forth, and the idea is inherent that prevention and even cure lies in the oiling on of additional clothing. “No doubt there is some connection with atmospheric conditions, 2>at the * uhlic mind has entirely failed to grasp th.it the symptoms which are grouped together under the name of a ‘col'i’ are due to invasion of tile system with micro-organisms of varying virulence, and that the results of such invasion are often disastrous. “The lengths of the obituary cohtmns in the daily papers during the winter are due mainly to deaths from respiratory complaints, many of which owe their origin to the common cold, and, in addition, it is well known to the medical profession that numerous chronic and disabling diseases can be traced to the same source. “In consequence of this want of knowledge among the community, few or no precautions are taken against spreading infection. Sufferers from ‘only a cold’ fulfil their social functions as usual, and attend places of worship and of entertainment, quite regardless of the dangers to which they are subjecting their neighbours. “The circumstances of many people suffering from colds are such that it is quite possible for them to remain in bed for the first few days, and if only thev would do so, not only would their own disability be shortened, but many susceptible persons would be spared a similar infection. Moreover, it is certain that if such a course could be generally followed, the total number of ‘lost working days’ would be diminished. “The time is ripe for a campaign Jby the health authorities against a complaint whose effects are so far-reaching, but the first stage in such a campaign against the ‘common cold’ and its unrealised dangers must be the discarding of its present name and the substitution of another more expressive of its actual nature.”