September 19, 1957
ASIAN FLU: Greece is experiencing a second wave of the Asian flu epidemic which has now reached a very broad scale. There are no official statistics of the number of people infected, and many of those with mild cases are not even reporting them to doctors. Even when doctors are called in, they rarely report the number of cases they have seen to the health authorities. Therefore, we are forced to depend on indications. The head of the Greek Medical Association estimates that 30 percent of the population has either just contracted or is recovering from the disease. The Athens Medical Association puts that percentage at anything from 20 to 40 percent of the population. The epidemic is more widespread in the capital as this is where it first spread from Egypt and because crowding facilitates the spread of the flu. In Kifissia and Nikaia there are more cases than elsewhere. Fortunately, most cases are so far mild, according to most authorities, as indicated by the fact that there have only been 50 cases admitted to hospitals. However, a large number of doctors and nurses, particularly the latter, have contracted the disease from their patients.
