ATTEMPTS TO MEET POSITION

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 316, 23 December 1936, Page 6

ATTEMPTS TO MEET POSITION

INFANTILE PARALYSIS SPECIAL CONFERENCE Little Increase In Cases Reported.

Press Association—Copyright. Wellington, Last Night.

As a result of a special medical conference at Wellington to ciscuss the epidemic cf infantile paralysis it has been decided to appoint in each of the tour main centres a medical practitioner wit'h specialised (knowledge of poliomyelitis, who will be available as a consultant to any member of the profession. Announcing this to-day, the Directoir-Gen-eral of Health, Dr. M. H. Watt, said the delegates to the conference felt that in this way there would be no overlooking! mistakes with suspects.

The conference was held y'esterday by representatives of the New Zealand. branch of the British Medical Association, ’the staff of the Wellington hospital and the Department of Health to discuss the present epidemic and 'the measures which should be taken to deal with it. Matters under discussion were largely technical, Dr. Watt said, and 'the decisions arrived at will be communicated by circular memoranda to all medical practitioners in the Dominion.

Three boys suspected of suffering from infantile paralysis have been admitted t othe Christchurch hospital. This afternoon the medical officer of health, Dr. Fletcher Telford, said that in one case a diagnosis had proved negative. The second child was under close observation, but it seemed unlikely that this case would :b©

found positive. The third child, aged six years, who was admitted this afternoon, will be kept under observation. The homes from which the suspected cases have come have all been strictly quarantined.

A in the number of admissions of cases of infantile paralysis to the Dunedin hospital was noted to-day, when between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. only two cases, boys aged seven and eight yeans respectively, were received into the Institution. Both are positive cases but are not paralysed. A heartening aspect of the adimssions during the past few days is provided by the fact that there have been no new cases of paralysis, t'he total number of paralysed cases being 21, eight of whom are extremely rparalysed, iwhile the remainder are progressing favourably. Even in the more serious cases some recovery is expected. Though a case admitted to t'he Timaru hospital was notified to the Health Department as one of poliomyelitis no paralysis has developed and the patient is making very satisfactory progress.