Report on the influenza epidemic of 1889-90 / by Dr. Parsons.

  • Parsons, H. Franklin (Henry Franklin), 1846-1913
Date:
1891
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report on the influenza epidemic of 1889-90 / by Dr. Parsons. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    333/354 (page 309)
    SOD week or two. About eight cases of earache ; three went on to otorrhoea; P Epjdcmic two casfs of uterine hiBvuorrhage; one case of miscarriage. About a :88!M)0; by dozen cases of mild epistaxis ; one slight case of hajmatemesis. Most l^r. Vai^is. cases had slight sore throat; three had moderate follicular tonsilhtis ; Chap. Xir. three person's were in a peculiar dazed stupid condition for about two Mr. H.H. weeks, unable to think or to do their work. Many slept badly, with ''P'^' Tivid nightmare and dreams ; ten had troublesome neuralgias. S/iin Eruptions.—Five cases had sudamina, two had urticaria, two were said to have a scarlet fever-iike rash in the morning before my visit, when it had disappeared. Two had a peculiar eruption about the 8th day of vivid red erythematous spots, each the size of a pea, aggregated in a patch ; in one child behind the knee, in the other on each cheek, with a few additional spots on the forehead and forearms, almost symmetrically arranged. Corvza was frequent, but mild and ephemeral. Seven people fainted —one child while I was listening to his heart--but all were liable to syncope. It was strikingly noticeable that the usually weak part of each patient seemed particularly to suiFer when they were attacked by Influenza. Those who were liable to lung complaints had pulmonary troubles, those who-were subject to stomach disorders got gastritis or enteritis, and so on. Perhaps my conclusions may not seem warranted by the facts recorded ; but it is impossible to put all one's observations into writing, even if space allowed it. Errors may creep in, for one has to depend often on the statements of patients, especially in private practice, and in the unusual pressure occasioned by the epidemic. But I have tried to avoid them by care, and to give as true and unbiassed account as possible, in elucidation of a new and difficult problem. H. HOAVARD MURPUY, February 14th, 1890. East Twickenham. ]S;oTES on the Influenza. Epidemic at Weybridge, Surrey ; by A. E.. Graham, M.A., M.B. I herewith enclose a few rough notes concerning the Influenza. I Notes by have not included notes of outbreaks in houses invaded later than Dr. Gralmm. January lOlh, because by that time the epidemic had become so general that the possible source of infection of any particular case could no longer be traced. Where some symptom was prominent in a case other than those usually noticed I have generally noted it. Sneezing only occurred in a very small per-centage of my cases, likewise epistaxis. Children of any age were not exempt, altliough it was rare under three years. Case 48 was of course the youngest, and in that case the temperature was not taken. Male adults seemed the most liable, next female adults, afterwards elder children. Among children nearly all had gastric or intestin.il disturbance, and a few had A skin eruption. In not a few cases there was tracheal or laryngeal pain with hoarseness and cough, and those cases were slow to mend. These cases were all adult females. Convalescence was moi'e tedious in males than in females. I have noted 131 cases under my own care, and I saw a few other cases of which I have kept no record. One case a lady of 66, terminated fatally on the eighth day from broncho- pneumonia.