A RATIONALE FOR STUDIES IN THE CONTROL OF EPIDEMIC INFLUENZA.

Influenza has long been a field conducive to fancy and speculation. At present, however, through increasing knowledge of the pathogenesis of the disease and the factors influencing resistance, the collected data are beginning to take form. In this discussion an effort has been made to point out the trends, to interpret their possibilities on the basis of the mechanisms involved, and to give some intimation as to their relative applicabilities and limitations. It is clear that certain of them offer reasonable promise of exerting a real effect in the prevention of influenza; it remains only to prove them.