Paralysis Should Wane

Chronicle (Levin), 2 April 1948, Page 4

Paralysis Should Wane

That two suspected ^patients idmitted to the. Palmerstqn Nortl: , Eospital have proved positive para- , .ysis cases, may create a feeling oi ] aneasiness, says .the Manawata ■ rimes. ACtually these shoUid g;m tio undue cause for .concsrn. It appears now that for every such sase there are likely hundreds of □thers of such mild degree as. to be tio more than a passing inaisposition. .. News of f resh cases whether locally, .in Taranaki, or in the Auckland provin'ee, need to be con- ' templated in the light of Auckland medical opinion which urges now that the schools thei'e be re-opened imniediately. A group of Auckland 'medical men, after close examination of the present outbreak, have come to tho opinion that' exposure to the disease now, when it is generally appearing only as a mild form among children, would gi'/e imhiunity in adult years when us course is usually more severe. Between Februdry 14 and March 24 only 15 children un'der 16 years of age were admitted as positive cases to the Auckland Hospital and among them' there was only one case of paralysis, which was in a slight form. . Immunisation is -one of mankind's greatest safeguards ag-ainsr the affliction of epi'demics and $ safeguard that, is rarely appreciated to the 'degree warranted. With cooler weather now setting in, tne epidemic can be expected to slowly fade bflt. Should it return again next summer it is very questionable whether there should be such restrictions as were, applied for the ,one now passing.