In all the fatal cases of influenza which came to autopsy, and this has
been the experience of others, the respiratory lesions, as indicated
above, occupy the foreground. Indeed, compared with other types of
respiratory disease, the lung involvement is so great that expression of
the disease need not be sought elsewhere to explain the cause of death.
However, there are general systemic changes which, even though
quantitatively inconstant, are sufficiently common and widespread to
support the view that the disease is a systemic one. The lesions of the
hematopoietic organs and those of the vascular system are the most
important and will now be taken up.