INFLUENZA COMMON

Taranaki Daily News, 14 November 1934, Page 4

INFLUENZA COMMON

ADVICE GIVEN BY PHYSICIANS. DANGER OF “STAYING ON DECK.” Influenza in fairly severe form is prevalent in Taranaki. Physicians stress the necessity, with the particular form of the disease concerned, of giving way and not trying to combat it as resistance will only make the attack more serious and recovery slower. The influenza takes different forms with different people, but the most general form appears to be a loss of all energy and strength and an aching feeling in head, and limbs. It is at this stage that one should retire to bed and give the system a chance to battle with the germ without being unduly strained. The course of the present epidemic has shown that if one persists in carrying on pains in the limbs and in the back of the neck and trouble with the ears, akin to meningitis symptoms, make themselves felt. The eventual result is a toxaemia and irregularity of the heart, requiring the care and the adoption of “go slow” methods for several days, the condition leaving in its train also a sluggishness of the brain. Doctors are unanimous that it is imperative for patients to stay in bed until recovered and for perspiration to be encouraged and stimulated. If a return to normal is attempted too soon the present type of influenza has a tendency to concentrate upon the passages behind the nose, producing an effect akin to facial neuralgia and causing inflammation, sometimes likely to need operative measures for relief.