Some manifestations of influenza in young children / by L. Emmett Holt.

  • Holt, L. Emmett (Luther Emmett), 1855-1924.
Date:
1914
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Some manifestations of influenza in young children / by L. Emmett Holt. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    Reprinted from Archives of Pediatrics, October, 1914. E. B. Treat & Co., Publishers, 241-243 W. 23d St., New York. SOME MANIFESTATIONS OF INFLUENZA IN YOUNG CHILDREN.* BY L. EMMETT HOLT. M.D., LL.D., /I Professor of Diseases of Children’s College of Physicians and Surgeons (Columbia University), New York. It is with some hesitation that one ventures to present a paper on so trite a subject as that of influenza, a term so widely used as a cloak for our ignorance of the explanation of obscure symptoms. I believe, however, that we are now in a position to clear up some of the haze which surrounds this subject and to chart some points at least in this indefinite sea of symptoms. That the term is constantly abused does not prove that there is no such thing as influenza. The same could formerly have been said of malaria. By influenza we mean an infection or inflam- mation due to Pfeiffer’s bacillus and only in this sense is the term used in this paper. The organism is one of those associated with inflammations of the respiratory tract and affects chiefly the lower tract—the trachea, bronchi and lungs—le$s frequently the upper respiratory tract—the nasopharynx and ears. To apply the term influenza to an ordinary severe head cold is a misnomer; in very few such cases is this organism found. As a rule, the B. influenza has not a high degree of virulence, but in exceptional in- stances this may be the case. At such times it may cause a gen- eral blood infection and not infrequently meningitis, more rarely joint inflammations. The diagnosis of influenza is established only by finding the organism in the secretions, usually it must be the bronchial secre- tion. This renders its discovery difficult in young children. The bronchial secretion is not easy to secure. These patients will not cough and expectorate when desired, and sometimes several trials must be made before satisfactory material for cultures is obtained. 1 he best way of accomplishing this in infants is to excite a cough by tickling the pharynx and to catch upon a pharyngeal swab any secretion brought up from the bronchi. A diagnosis by the examination of smears is unreliable. Only cul- tuies can be depended upon. It should be remembered that the B. influenza grows only upon media containing hemoglobin Anri* 5° in'if01-6 th° New YOrk Stnte redlatric Society, Section on Todlatrics,