Hundreds Ill In Albany With Grip

• “Grip” is an euphemism for epidemic of influenza • Health warning of NY Board of Health Commissioner Herman L. Biggs: “New York state and the nation at large are confronted by an epidemic of influenza or grip”• Policy: disease not required to be reported to state board of health. Results: “little official data to get at spread of disease”• Physicians report 300 cases of influenza cases in Schuylerville (pop. 2000-3000)• 1st reported death: Miss Margaret Landrine of Russell Sage College (Troy, NY)• State Board of Health officials state disease spread in city of New York greater than officially reported, but throughout the state spread is comparatively smaller than in other New England states• Biggs issues “warning letter” to the public via state newspapers. Warns uncertainty as to cause of disease; “a definite conclusion as to the causative factor cannot, however, be reached until further laboratory investigations have been completed”• Lists several known uniform symptoms including (a) fever: 101º – 105º, (b) headache, (c) “pain in the muscles and bones”, (d) “dry, nagging cough”, (e) “in some cases, the disease begins with vomiting and diarrhea”, (f) “a good deal of prostration”, among others. He also states “many deaths have already occurred from pneumonia”• Biggs also states due to (1) highly contagious character, (2) widespread extent, and (3) general susceptibility to disease make strict quarantine measures impractical• Biggs states, “There is no known cure for the disease”• Policy: disease not required to be reported to state board of health. Biggs comment: “Health officials have been notified to report to the department at frequent intervals the general situation regarding the prevalence of the disease in their respective localities”Newspaper article