THE LATEST MALADY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2012, 20 March 1914, Page 8

THE LATEST MALADY.

-'■;-.■ ,;-OfFANTILB. PARALYSIS.., ! |TS PRESENCE IN WELLINGTON. ■'i ! -;'Ask the ordinary citizen what kind of . a.disease is anterior polio myelitis. Ho '"will probably say that'ho, has noyer '.hear.of it. Ask him again what is in"fahtiie paralysis, and he will probably think a moment, reply 'that ho ha 3 ■•-. oftenheard the name, and will perhaps give a vague answer that it is "a kind of paralysis' that infants get on raro occasions.".! Tellhimj 'however, that it is a contagious disease —an incurable one— '■'that'can' affect either child ' or adult, causing the permanent loss or withering >. t of..any member of tho,body, that there ;;, appears to. be a series of these cases in .'.the country, and that there ;is an adult ■at present at the Wellington Hospital . ./suffering from it, and ho.may open his - i eyes, somewhat. All. this ; is quite cor-.;-.:'xcct. ;;T\v6 .or: three months ago the diseaso '. reported in Duncdin, and sinco'then it has slowly worked its way "to'-the North Island." It is not unknown , x hero. ; There have been sporadio cases '.- in tho past, but thoy must bo more than sporadic how, for a recent Order-in-Councii makes it compulsory to notify cases. ; ., . How Contraoted. . Tho disease is transmitted by very . small organisms; which find their way by arterial channels into tho spinal cor,d,. ~lf certain cells of tho.cord are destroyed the muscles controlled by them become useless, and the result, is' the'wasting of certain groups of muscles, v It is only within; recent years ; that anything definite has been known .with respect to the disease. ■' The most reliable medical authorities are two' noted Continental doctors. C. Kling, of Stock"holm, and C. Levaditi, of Paris. These ■doctors carried' . out ..investigations in connection with a recent serious out-, •break of tho malady in' Stockholm, and they .were successful in isolating tho i germ of tho disease, and, by injecting it into the brains of monkeys, they reproduced tho disease in these animals. :'Tho'period of incubation'was found to ibo two or threo days, and that time is tho period of contagion. The disease, manifests itself in two phases, closely Tesembling acute rhoumatism. -After '.'. tlio' first attack there is a period of calm,'whilein tho second period para- '" lysis of -the muscles takes place. -The.; '■" two' bacteriologists mentioned were of the opinion that the disease is not carried by either, water, milk, dust, or insects, though one kind of fly (stomoxys calcitrans) probably does, carry it. Tlioy came to the conclusion that it is by tho secretions of the nose •pharynx, throat, and the contents of 'tho intestines that tho 'disease, was carried to other people. A Cure Possible. As yet it is held to be incurable, but/ as tho result of investigations which aro now being carriedout.it is hoped to find a remedy—tho protective serum from a ' "monkey inoculated' with; the disease. ' ',Wonderful results have aho been ob- ,- tained ui England by an expori;mentalist named Jones, who has attained success in grafting muscles and , nerves into tho parts affected. ;The application of massage and electricity to the'limbs affected has also induced •partial recovery. lit all cases medical •■■ authorities strongly the isolation at once of tho person afflicted. ;,;., Five Cases in the District. .A report Was laid on, the table at .- tho meeting of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board yesterday, from the Do-' partmeht of Public Health, showing tbat'five' cases had occurred in the dis-'<'-..'triet^rtwo'','h Wellington, l one at Shannon, and two in.; Levin. One of the cases from Levin proved fatal. Ono of the Wellington cases was a boy of seven years, who was reported to.be making good progress.,' Tho other .-> case -was a,boy of 16 years, who had •'•' j'been removed to the Hospital; The his-' ' . tory of tho patient's family was very '" sad,' this' .being the'sixth case, five v ',other-,members .having;' died ; of' the disease before, reaching the. .ago of. three •.. years.' The Shannon case was a.nialo of ■ eight years arid a half/and tho Levin cases a young woman .of 22 years, who 'died, and her infant daughter, 17 months old,'reported to bo progressing satisfactorily. ,-.; • .'•"''