A GRAVE DANGER

Hokitika Guardian, 20 January 1925, Page 4

A GRAVE DANGER

SIR IRUBY KING’S ADVICE. AUCKLAND, dan. 18. Sir Trilby King, Director of Child Welfare, was interviewed with regard to the need and effect of extension to the whole of the North Island of the public proclamation prohibiting the attendance of children under sixteen years of age at theatres, sellouts, and other places of assembly, with a view to cheeking the spread of infantile paralysis. “'There can lie 110 reasonable question.’’ .said Sir Trilby, “as to l.he necessity and beneficence of the timely proclamation just telegraphed from AVellington. including the whole of the Auckland province in the proclaimed area. So far, conuiared with the great New Zealand epidemic of 1919 there have been actually and relatively few cases in the Auckland health district, compared with the AVellington health district, but it cannot lie too strongly ipi pressed 011 tbp. public, that, judging from that epidemic, liability to infantile paralysis has tended in the past to increase as we pass from the south le tlie north of New Zealand. Roughly si caking, we mav divide the* Dominion for the present purpose into four health districts. In these the incidence of infantile paralvsis in 1910 "as approximately as follows: Northern half of North Island ... oof) Southern hall ol North Island ... 1 .!• ,0 Northern part of South Island ... (Nelson, Afarlboroiigh. Can- ... terbury and AA’estland) ... ... 91) Southern part of South Island ... (Otago and Southland) 29 Total 1010 Already nearly two hundred ihildrcti inns) have become seriously affected with infantile paralvsis during the present epidemic in the southern (AA 'l- - half of the North Island. So far"there have keen relatively few cases in the province of Auckland, but it must lie borne in mind that the t’nilencv is for eases to increase ranidlv during epidemic years, and not to reach the maximum unil February ami A fan h. as shown throughout New Zealand in the 1910 campaign, namely, January. 119; February 319; Alarcli. 320 ; April, 107. Infantile paralysis is typically a mid-summer and late summer disease, increasing in gravity until the autumn is established, and then subsiding. The timely proclamation and warnings which have been issued from AVellington should enable parents and guardians to prevent any serious incidence and spread of the disease. The central authority has taken drastic and absolutely necessary action to assist parents in protecting their children, and it cannot he too strongly emphasised that beyond the stops taken officially it is not in the power of any health authority or private medical practitioner to do much more in tl e direction of preventing this very grave and intractable disease.”