Davos

DAVOS (Davos, Romansh: Tavau), a Swiss high-altitude climatic resort in the canton of Grisons; it is located in a high valley (1,560 m above sea level) in the Rhaetian Alps and consists of two localities: Davos-Dorf and Davos-Platz. Davos is protected from northern winds by a mountain range (2,000–3,000 m); it is surrounded by alpine meadows and coniferous forests; snow cover lasts for 5 months. Davos has 9,727 permanent residents (1926), 57 hotels and sanatoriums with 2,870 beds, and an Institute for the Study of High-Altitude Climate Physiology. There are strict hygienic regulations. Sports of all kinds are available for winter and summer. The resort is open year-round. The climate of Davos is determined by its high geographical position on the one hand, and the sheltered nature of the resort on the other; its characteristic properties are: a large number of clear days, absence of winds, low cloudiness, rarity of fogs, very insignificant air humidity, intensity of solar radiation, a small amount of atmospheric precipitation, and moderate warmth in summer. By virtue of these properties, Davos is one of the best and most famous climatic stations for tuberculous patients (especially in winter).

The solar climate (Strahlungsklima) of Davos possesses very abundant radiation and is characterized in summer by intense direct rays of all kinds (ultraviolet, light, and infrared); in winter, by the same rays, but with a decrease in ultraviolet ones. Therapeutic means: use of the climate, helio- and aerotherapy, lying in the open air, massage, hydro- and physiotherapy, gymnastics, all kinds of sports, and reinforced nutrition. The main indications for treatment: preventive treatment of tuberculosis in the hereditarily predisposed, all forms of pulmonary tuberculosis (with the exception of those noted in the contraindications), if the organism still has sufficient reserve immuno-biological forces, chronic bronchitis (without strongly developed emphysema), consequences of pleurisy, bronchial asthma, scrofulosis, local tuberculous diseases (so-called "surgical tuberculosis"), combinations of the latter with pulmonary tuberculosis, malaria, and convalescence. Contraindications include: all severe forms of pulmonary tuberculosis with extensive lesions, rapidly progressing, complicated by serious disease of other organs, with high temperature, with a tendency to repeated and abundant hemoptysis, with phenomena of extreme emaciation, disorder of cardiac compensation, chronic nephritis, and exhaustion. Patients who have completed a course of treatment in Davos are recommended, before returning to the climate of the plains, to spend some time at intermediate stations of medium altitude (400–1,000 m). Among Soviet national resorts that can successfully compete with Davos in terms of their climatic data, one can name Teberda and Abastumani.