INFANTILE PARALYSIS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 2849, 21 February 1925, Page 2

INFANTILE PARALYSIS.

I p io the present, Foxton borough has been immune from the epidemic. The two case® reported as Foxton were from areas outside the borough. Both eases are of a minor lial are. Levin has gained a good deal of unenviable notoriety by the number of cases notified and sent .to hospital from that centre, which has had a very upsetting .effect upon parents. The majority of the cases, however, were of a mild character, and a number of them could have been kept under observation in Levin. A Foxton young lady who was a victim of the disease some years ego volunteered and gave some blood for serum purposes this week. There are only two serious cases at present in the hospital. Two further cases were admitted to hospital yesterday. One of the patients, a little girl aged 12 months, who came from Colyton, is the tirsf from that locality. The other was from Shannon, and is a hoy aged 10 years. This is the third case from that township; one of the previous victims succumbed to the disease. Both-these new patients have been attacked by a mild form of the disease. The ease admitted on Thursday from Otaki and reported serious has now improved and is out of danger. Wellington,. Last Night. The Health Department received fh“ following further notifications of cases of infantile paralysis for 24 hours ending 9 a.m. to-day: — Auckland 1, Henderson 1, Papakura 1, Wellington 1, Eketalnma 1, Ohakune 1, llawera 1, Gisborne 1, Dannevirke 1, Christchurch 2, Mornington (Dunedin) 1, total 14.

FOUR. FRESH AUCKLAND CASES. Auckland, Last Night. Four fresh cases of infantile pai a lysis were notified in the Auckland health district to-day, one being in the city, one in the suburbs and two from the country. CASE FROM WAITARA. New Plymouth, Last Night. A mild case of infantile paralysis

a child of live years, residing Wnilara, was admitted to New Plymouth Hospital fo-clay. UFA I/LTT DEPA RTMENT’S MEMORANDUM.

Wellington, February 19. A memorandum issued by the Health Department, to local authorities and medical practitioners on the present knowledge of infantile paralysis, its cause and the manner of its spread, states: Throughout the world, from 1880 |o the present day, over lot) outbreaks of infantile paralysis have been recorded. Tn 45 epidemics which occurred before 1905. the average number of cases recorded was low, viz., 21. Since then there has been a marked increase, both in the frequency of the epidemics and in the average cases recorded in each. Over the quinquennial period the number of eases per epidemic averages from 300 to 600, and, as exceptional instances, New York City reported 8.928 eases in 1916, with 2,409 deaths. This increase cannot be wholly accounted for by the fact that infantile paralysis is now better known, and is therefore more readily recognised and diagnosed as such.

The modern explanation of the recurrent epidemics of infantile paralysis and their destructive features, is, adds the memorandum, that it is a very communicable disease like measles, and is much more widespread in a community than would be indicated by paralytic cases alone. Most eases are mild, escape notice, and leave the individual protected against further attacks. There is thus a high degree of acquired immunity except in the young. Only an occasional severe ease with paralysis is recognised and diagnosed as infantile paralysis. It is most infectious during .the early stage of disease. We are therefore dealing with the common infection always present in a community,'but which, in recent years and particularly in the late summer and aixI mim seasons, has gained an in- «• reusing virulence. Persons of five veurs and under contribute approximately 79 per cent, of the cases, and the epidemic in any one couniiv tends to recur every three to five years, seemingly when a fresh -apply of susceptible children is available. Persons under 16 years contribute 90 per cent, of eases. There is .much evidence to support tlie opinion that the disease, both in its mild and in its severe form, is dii’eetly transmissible from person to person. In addition, healthy carriers—persons who have been in contact with a case —can carry the virus iii the mucus membrane of their noses and throats , without suffering any symptoms. These earriers, even if the infection they car- , v comes from a mild unrecognised case, may produce an attack of a severe type if they chance to convey the infection t.o ft susceptible person. The memorandum discounts theories that the disease is climate, inject borne or transmitted by cats, dogs and other domestic animals, or ih rough the agency of water, milk, dust, or mosquitoes, and declares: The weight of present opinion inclines to the view that infantile parniysis is exclusively a human di--ra.se, and is spread by personal contact. By personal contact we mean t o include all the usual opportunities, direct or indirect, immediate or intermediate, for the traxistcience of body discharges from person to person, having in mind as a possibility that infection may occur through contaminated food.