"On the whole, this disorder was rarely mortal, unless by some very great error arising in the treatment of it; however, this very circumstance proved fatal to some, who, making too slight of it, either on account of its being so common or not thinking it very dangerous, often found asthmas, hectics, or even consumptions themselves, the forfeitures of their inconsiderate rashness."
10 Observations on the Air and Epidemical Diseases, translated from the Latin, London, 1758.
Arbuthnot also described this visitation of the disease.11 He regarded the uniformity of the symptoms in every place as most remarkable, and tells us that during the whole season in which it prevailed there was "a great run of hysterical, hypochondriacal, and nervous distempers; in short, all the symptoms of relaxation."
11 An Essay concerning the Effects of Air on Human Bodies, London, 1751.
During the years 1737-38 influenza again swept over England, North America, the islands of the West Indies, and France; in 1742-43 it prevailed in Western Europe and the British Isles; in 1757-58 in North America, the West Indies, France, and Scotland. In 1761 it overran the North American colonies and the West Indies.
The epidemic of 1762 extended very generally over Europe and Great Britain. In Germany nine-tenths of the population were attacked by the disease.
Widely extended epidemics prevailed in Europe and America in 1767 and 1775; in 1772 it raged in North America; in 1778-80, in France, Germany and Russia. Noah Webster found influenza prevalent in North America in 1781; the next year one of the most remarkable epidemics of this disease (described as the epidemic of 1782) appeared in Europe. It came from the East, from Asia into Russia. From St. Petersburg it spread during the winter and spring over Sweden, Germany, Holland, and France. In the autumn it was in Italy, Spain, and Portugal. The crews of Dutch and English ships were taken ill with the disease upon the high seas.
In Vienna three-fourths of the population fell ill of it with such suddenness that it got here for the first time its name of "Blitz Katarrh" (lightning catarrh). It was characterized by great pain in the back, breast, and throat, and by extraordinary enfeeblement. Relapses occurred, and inflammation of the lungs and bowels was common. Children remained relatively exempt from its seizure. This epidemic broke out in England about the end of April and raged until the end of June. "The duration of the malady in some was not above a day or two, but it usually lasted near a week or longer. In a few the symptoms seemed to abate in two or three days, but some returned and raged with more violence than at first."12 The disease was not regarded as in itself fatal, and few could be said to have died of it "but those who were old, asthmatic, or who had been debilitated by some previous indisposition."
12 An Account of the Epidemic Disease called the Influenza of the Year 1782. Collected from the Observations of several Physicians in London and in the Country, by a Committee of the Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians in London. Read at the College, June 25, 1783.
Numerous recurring outbreaks took place in Europe and America during the years 1788-90. One of these, as it occurred in America, is well described by Dr. John Warren13 of Boston in a letter to Lettsom. This letter is dated May 30, 1790, and among other matters of great interest respecting the disease it is stated that "Our beloved President Washington is but now on the recovery from a very severe and dangerous attack of it in that city" (New York).