Clinical observations on grippe as seen in pediatric practice: Report on 1,146 cases

Abstract

Summary<ul><li>1.A method of keeping records of diseases and complications seen in private practice is described.</li><li>2.Such records of 1,146 cases of grippe occurring between February, 1930, and January, 1936, form the basis of this report.</li><li>3.The symptoms of grippe and the diagnostic criteria are outlined.</li><li>4.During this period, grippe occurred in yearly epidemics of considerable proportions except in the winter of 1933–34, when there was an obvious, but much smaller, wave.</li><li>5.Laryngitis or croup occurred in smaller epidemics identical in time with those of grippe, making it seem probable that croup is a manifestation of grippe in infancy.</li><li>6.The epidemics of grippe showed no chronologic relation to the prevalence of general respiratory disease as shown by comparison with the incidence of pharyngitis.</li><li>7.The disease attacked children of all ages.</li><li>8.The complications were tabulated, and it was demonstrated that otitis media and capillary bronchitis were by far the most common.</li><li>9.Seventy per cent of the children who developed capillary bronchitis were known to be asthmatic, and another 17 per cent were probably allergic. This raises the question as to whether or not the physical findings leading to the diagnosis of capillary bronchitis were not due to an allergic reaction in the bronchi.</li><li>10.Complications conspicuous by their absence include endocarditis, empyema, nephritis, pyuria, and arthritis. It is evident that these conditions are not usually caused by grippe.</li><li>11.The prognosis was extremely good. The only death was from meningitis which resulted when measles complicated grippe with mastoiditis.</li></ul>