INFANTILE PARALYSIS

Opotiki News, Volume X, Issue 1051, 2 December 1947, Page 3

INFANTILE PARALYSIS

PRECAUTIONS AGAINST ATTACK SYMPTOMS AND TYPES In a message received by The Opotiki News from Mr. Knights, District Health Officer, .parents are advised not to let their children bathe in the rivers but it is considered that the sea beaches are quite safe but children should not congregate. It is also recommended that children under the age of 16 years should be excluded from parties and gatherings. At the suggestion of Mr. Knights the followng article which appeared in yesterday’s New Zealand Herald is reprinted for public information:

Precautions to bo taken against the spread of infantile paralysis, and symptoms and effects of the disease were outlined on Sunday by an Auckland physician in an interview.

It is not known entirely how the minutely small virus of the disease is spread Jjul it is known that the link is-in close human contact, he said. The virus has been found in the throat and mouth and in excreta, not only of patiento but of contacts, and healthy persons. During an epidemic it has been isolated in city sewage, from Hies and from llycontaininatcd food.

For every .person who- develops poliomyelitis there are at least five others who have a mild febrile illness lasting from one to three days and characterised by fever, malaise, headache, vomiting, and perhaps a sore throat. Paralysis may follow three or four days after apparent recovery from a mild attack. The second and more severe attack has more marked symptoms, including a headache, stiff neck, pain in the back, tenderness of the muscles, restiveness, drowincss and liability to paralysis. Another type of attack is a continued fever culminating in paralysis. Most Susceptible Group The proportion of children who become infected in a community must be very high but the attacks are so mild that they arc not aware of them. Others with the febrile illness who may never see a doctor are just as likely to excrete virus as those who become paralysed. The paralysis itself may involve any muscle in the legs, arms, chest or abdomen and there is no specific treatment for it. Serum from convalescent patients or pooled adult serum has not proved of any value in treatment or prevention. The sulfanilamide group < f drugs is of no value and may even be harmful. Penicillin has been tried and is of no value. However, the degree of improvement from the initial paralysis may he very considerable. Small children are the i >st susceptible group to attack from the disease and its incidence decreases as age increases. However an adult attack tends to be more severe than in the younger cases. In contrast with other infectious diseases severe forms of this disease occur in apparently robust and healthy children. Late summer and autumn are usual periods for the epidemic and this present attack has started eailier than usual. American Professor’s List Precautions against the spicad of the disease have been tabulated by Professor John It. Paul, professor of preventive medicine at Vale University School of Medicine, as follows

(1) Avoid overtiring and extreme fatigue from strenuous exercise.

(2) Avoid sudden chilling, such as would conic from a plunge into extremely cold water on a very hot day.

(3) Pay careful attention to personal cleanliness, such as thorough hand-washing before eating. (4) If possible avoid operations on tonsils and adenoids during an epidemic. Careful study has shown that such operations during an epidemic tend to increase the danger of contracting infantile paralysis in its most serious form.

(5) Use the purest milk and water available. Keep Hies away from food. While the exact means of spreading the disease is not known contaminated water and milk are always dangerous and flics have repeatedly been shown to carry the infantile paralysis virus. (6) Do not swim in polluted water. (7) Maintain community sanitation at a high level at all times. (8) Avoid all unnecessary contact With persons with an illness suggestive of infantile paralysis.