Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 67, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 March 1913 — PNEUMONIA IS A SPRING DANGER [ARTICLE]

PNEUMONIA IS A SPRING DANGER

Warning Issued to All to Be Careful About the Disease at This Time of the Year.

The end of the winter, far from bringing a termination to the dan- 1 ger from pneumonia, in reality marks the beginning of the season whep this disease becomes an extremely serious ’cause of increase of mortality.

The most important problem before the medical profession at present is the reduction of the-> death rate from pneumonia. Considering the nature of the disease and the intense strain which is imposes on the heart, it is probable that the only hopeful outlook for any considerable reduction in pneumonia mortality is through the prevention of the disease. The prospect of a cure for it, in the popular sense of that term, according to The Journal of the American Medical Association, has grown less as we have learned more about the disease. The disease occurs at all seasons and in all climates. Pneumonia is favored by lack of sunlight and it occurs among those who are much exposed to dust or who have to breathe the emanations from the lungs of other people. The avoidance of pneumonia is largely a question of personal precautions that prevent the development of the disease by lessening the predisposition to it. Men in middle life, particularly above 50, must learn during unsettled weather to avoid crowds, especially- when fatigued and when they have been for a number of hours without eating. Late at night, when for any reason a meal has been missed, crowds are dangerous. If this lesson could be generally learned there would be less pneumonia among the well-to-do classes. It needs to be emphasized that the danger from overcrowding is greatly enhanced by fatigue and going without food. Like all other infectious diseases, instead of being a more or less inevitable dispensation it has come to be recognized as due to certain definite factors which can be greatly lessened by public and individual hygienic regulations.