During the 1918–1919 influenza pandemic, the surgeon general recommended a treatment for the infection that may have led to toxicity and an increase in the mortality. What was the recommended treatment?
Salicylate toxicity may have been responsible for some deaths, as the findings on autopsy were consistent with pulmonary and cerebral edema, and the dosing regimens were high enough to cause toxicity.
Starko KM. Salicylates and pandemic influenza mortality, 1918–1919 pharmacology, pathology, and historic evidence. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2009 Nov 15;49(9):1405-10.
Contributed by: Kristine Nanagas, MD
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