Preventive Measure Against Contagion

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26634, 3 December 1947, Page 6

Preventive Measure Against Contagion

PARALYSIS OUTBREAK

P.A. WELLINGTON, Dec. 2. Now that the Health Department had closed the schools, the main avenue of contagion in poliomyelitis, it was the responsibility of parents to use commonsense in preventing their children from frequenting other places "where people congregated, said the Director-general of Health, Dr T. R. Ritchie, to-day. “ The Health Department has taken measures which have been indicated to be necessary by its past experience and it will take additional precautions as and if those become necessary,” continued the Director-general. “ Fairly serious epidemics interspersed with minor ones, occur at intervals of from nine to 12 years. It is, of course, possible that the present outbreak will prove a minor one—in which case, however, it will be unwise to dismiss the possibility of a serious one in the next year or two.

“Less is known about poliomyelitis than about some other virus diseases,” Dr Ritchie added. “This is partly due to the fact that no small animals readily available for research —such as rabbits, rats or mice—are susceptible to it. In some virus diseases it is possible to inoculate the embryo of an egg with a virus and study its development in the chick, but not in this case, however. The only creature beside man known to be subject to poliomyelitis is the monkey, and research is being keenly prosecuted in America on these lines.

“As a consequence of the absence of ready research material, it cannot yet be said that the disease can be stopped or prevented from spreading, but by the precautions taken the disease is, as it were, slowed down and the outbreak does not reach the proportions it otherwise would,” added the Director-general. “ Owing to the fact that many children and adults become slightly infected during mild outbreaks, a large portion of the population become a ‘ salted end ’ against any further symptoms of the disease. The, fact that many such people, with no apparent symptoms, are moving about New Zealand renders the spread of the virus inevitable. Children are more susceptible than adults in that they have no! had the inoculating effect of prior infection. “The spread of the infection offers puzzling features,” Dr Ritchie concluded. “For instance, only one in a family may reveal infection The need for avoiding contacts among children, however, is imperative The department has closed the main source of contact—schools—but other sources remain open While some of these will also be closed if the position shows the necessity for it, unnecessary haste in doing this is to be avoided.”