In de Italiaanse media barst het momenteel van de meldingen dat de Wereldbank aan president Loekasjenko van Witrusland 900 miljoen dollar aangeboden heeft om een lockdown in te stellen.
Voor zover na te gaan is, liggen de feiten een beetje anders. Ondanks het feit dat Witrusland geen lockdown heeft, heeft de economie natuurlijk van de economische malaise van de rest van de wereld te lijden omdat de in- en export drastisch is teruggelopen. Witrusland heeft dus steun van de Wereldbank aangevraagd. Dit werd ook toegezegd, maar alleen onder de voorwaarde dat Witrusland eveneens een lockdown zou invoeren. Loekasjenko heeft dit geweigerd. En voorzover bekend geen geld gekregen.
In Italië is men tegenwoordig erg tegen de corona-maatregelen gekant. Er zijn veel kritische artikelen en posts te vinden en dan stuit je toevallig op een juweeltje (als we maar eens aannemen dat dit waar is, en we niet te maken hebben met uitermate professionele vervalsing).
Vertaling uit Il Gazzettino Vesuviano:
“Tijdens ons onderzoek, ontdekten we dat in november 1918, op het hoogtepunt van de “Spaanse griep epidemie, het Amerikaanse medische tijdschrift JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) onder de rubriek “Correspondence“, een zeer interessant artikel van een dokter H.A. Klein uit Chicago gepubliceerd had. Dit doet denken aan de situatie van vandaag. Hierbij een foto van de originele tekst, anders zou je het haast niet geloven.”
Dit is wat moeilijk te lezen, dus hier de Engelse tekst:
THE TREATMENT OF “SPANISH INFLUENZA”
To the Editor: —In a number of cases of influenza and influenzal pneumonia, seen both in my private practice and at the Alexian Brothers’ Hospital, I have used a treatment from which my results have been most satisfactory.
The clinical course of the condition may be divided for convenience into three stages. The first lasts from three to four days, and is characterized by chills, fever, muscular pain, etc. The second is of rather uncertain duration, and is characterized by involvement of the respiratory system varying in degree from a slight catarrhal condition to the involvement of a large area of one or both lungs. The third is characterized by disturbances of the circulatory system, dyspnea and cyanosis.
In the treatment, the patient receives as soon as possible from 10 to 20 c.c. of a saturated solution of quinin hydrochlorid. This is given intravenously and is repeated once or twice in twenty-four hours. It is followed for from two to five days by one or two daily injections of the same solution, the quantity depending on the condition of the patient. In addition, the patient receives 4 grains of quinin bisulphate and 6 grains of sodium salicylate over thee hours. This may be given either in capsules or solution, but it is important that the two drugs are given together. I make it a rule to continue the intravenous injection until the temperature remains normal or subnormal for at least thirty-six hours; I continue the quinine and the sodium salicylate until the temperature has continued normal or subnormal for three consecutive days. With this treatment, all patients that came under my observation within three days of the onset of symptoms made a rapid and uninterrupted recovery within from one to three days. In no case did they continue into the second stage, or show any complication. Patients that came under my observation in whom the symptoms lasted more than three days, and those of the second stage with respiratory symptoms, all made rapid and uninterrupted recovery in from one to eight days. We also had a very slight mortality in cases of the third stage.
Under this treatment a marked improvement may be noticed in the leukocyte count. In cases in which the leukocyte count was 2.000 before the injection there was a decided rise to 4.000 or 5.000 immediately following the first injection, and after repeated injections even as high as 21.000.
I cannot too strongly call attention to the importance of keeping the bowels open by mild cathartics. Often a lingering temperature disappeared after a brisk flushing of the bowels, and this method greatly aided in shortening the course of the disease.
Some may regard the dosage of quinine given as heroic, but I find that it represents rather the minimum than the maximum amount with which results may be obtained.
H. A. Klein, M.D., Chicago
