INFANTILE PARALYSIS.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 April 1916, Page 5

INFANTILE PARALYSIS.

A FLY INFECTION AND NOTHING ELSE. A Wellington doctor of high standing has written to the editor of the Christchurch Press, stating that after giving' the infantile paralysis question serious thought he has come to the positive conclusion" that it is a fly infection, and nothing else. His reasons for coming to this conclusion are thus stated: — (1) It spreads all over the community simultaneously, not by the trade routes, for even children pi the back-blocks who have never been in contact have got it. (2) It is more prevalent in the country. Why? Because manure is all over the place, and flies are there in great numbers because of the manure. (3) In Wellington the greater number of cases have been from the Newtown end of the town, where the stables are and the Zoo. (4) The reason babies get it is, lam certain, through fly-infeßted milk. In commenting on the doctor's letter, the Press says that whether he is right in his theory or not, there is no doubt that the common house fly is a deadly peril to tho health of the community. There is no question that it is chiefly responsible for the spread of diarrhoea, enteritis, and dysentery,' and it is believed to be one of the most potent means of causing the spread of typhoid fever. From diarrhoea and enteritis alone there is an average of about 300 deaths in New Zealand every year, largely among young children, while the amount of sickness due to these diseases every autumn must mean not only much suffering, but a considerable loss from a monetary point of view. The Press very sensibly urges that the Health Department should not wait until a serious epidemic is in full swing before bestirring itself in, the interests of the public health, but that it should show an intelligent anticipation of events, and try to remove the causes which lead to epidemics. Tiiere is no more hopeful direction in which the Department might set to work than in organising a "Swat the Fly" campaign early in the next spring, as soon as the flies begin to make their appearance after their hibernation—if they do hibernate, about which there seems to be some doubt.

An excellent little handbook, entitled "Fighting the Fly Peril," has been published by T. Fisher Unwin, Ltd., which shows how important is the work we suggest, and the manner in which it can best be undertaken. It is written by C. F. Plowman and W. F. Denrden, M.R. C.S., Eng., D.P.H., Medical Officer of Health, Port of Manchester, and there is an introduction by A. E. Shipley, Sc.D., Cambridge. In the chapter headed "The Menace of the House-Fly," it is stated that the house-fly is a danger to man at every turn.

"It does not consume filth; it distributes the germs which live on filth. Even though flics and their larvae may consume a dead body or a masss of filth, the increased number of flies which will c\ciitually leave their uncleanly host will wreak more evil than even the dead body would have done if left untouched by the flies. The fly's head and feet arc bo constructed that they arc perfect collectors of filth and germs. There is no virtue in the fly, and no reason why it should continue to exist. The blind toleration of such a menace to life and happiness is a poor reflection upon.the science of this century; but, before long, when public opinion has been sufficiently aroused, the presence of flies in any number near our houses will be considered a reproach and the retention of rubbish near a dwelling a punishable offence." The Master of Christ's College, in his Introduction, confirms the statement made by the Wellington doctor—namely, that stable-manure constitutes the most prolific breeding place of flies. The American Entomological Department, after an exhaustive investigation, has come to the conclusion that sprinkling the manure with commercial borax is the cheapest and most effective way of destroying not only the larvae but the eggs. Dr. Shipley remarks:—"lf, in every village, and in every town, a corps could be organised of women with power to act, I honestly believe that the appalling mortality from infantile diarrhoea, which lags but one week behind the curve with the greatest abundance of flies would be most materially diminished, and with it would go many cases of enteric, anthrax, and other disables that are destroying bo many w« XAnt to keep ftliyC