But this epidemic, although extremely contagious, was benign. Objective examination revealed only rather insignificant signs: redness of the pharyngeal pillars, negative lung auscultation.
No recurrence of the fever. The illness lasted a week, leaving behind fatigue and weight loss. No deaths. This epidemic disappeared from Canton at the beginning of July , but reappeared in October and November , accompanied, then, by its formidable series of complications, which caused many deaths.
The complications affected mainly the respiratory system, causing pulmonary congestion and edema. The flu made its appearance in July in the various territories of the Indochinese Union. The epidemic reached its peak in August , then gradually declined in September, without however completely disappearing.
A new upsurge took place in October, and did not diminish until around April The first epidemic wave, though considered relatively benign given the cases and deaths declared at the beginning of , caused many fatalities. From the morbidity and mortality point of view, we do not have many details on this period, having not initially required local government offices to make a compulsory declaration of influenza.
The breakdown by country of the cases and deaths which occurred during the months of November and December is as follows:. These figures, being much lower than the reality, show that the epidemic was already severe in Indochina in , since they exceeded by a third of the total cases of other epidemic diseases declared during that year. No province of Cochinchina and Cambodia has been spared; in the latter country, the districts of Battambang, Stung-Treng, Kompong-Chhnang and Prey-Veng were the most affected.
