Reports and papers on epidemic poliomyelitis.

Date:
1912
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Reports and papers on epidemic poliomyelitis. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    176/180 (page 152)
    The Massachusetts State Board record 49 cases of illness, possibly abortive cases of poliomyelitis, occurring in the same houses with the 150 pronounced cases. In the epidemic which occurred in the island of Nauru in 1910 Muller states that many cases of the disease recovered without paralysis. Only 50 of the 700 attacked had paralysis remaining after three months. Muller24 lays stress upon the fact that the disease in Hesse- Nassau seemed to be conveyed less often by infected children than by their apparently healthy brothers and sisters. He is also of opinion that adults, who have been in contact with infection, may act as “ carriers ” of poliomyelitis, and gives some striking instances of circumstances pointing to such modes of infection. Experimental investigation of abortive cases.—It is possible, by means of a neutralization test to determine, in a given instance, whether a person has been affected with poliomyelitis, even should no signs of paralysis have presented themselves. The test is performed by mixing the blood serum of the suspected case with the filtered virus of poliomyelitis, and incubating the mixture at 37° C. for a few hours. It is then injected into a monkey. Normal human serum has little or no power to neutralize the virus of poliomyelitis, while the serum of recovered cases possesses this power. While such a test is useful to prove that abortive cases do occur, it is, needless to say, of no use as a means of routine diagnosis. The recognition of these cases, therefore, which may play a very important part in spreading the disease, must be attempted by clinical observations alone. Osgood and Lucas22 have demonstrated by experiment that the nasal mucous membrane of two monkeys inoculated with poliomyelitis remained infectious for six weeks and five and one-half months, respectively. This observation strengthens the suspicion of the existence of human carriers and indicates that prophylactic measures directed only to persons in the acute stage of the disease are unlikely to be successful. Food as a source of infection.—Wickman believes that food, especially milk, may transmit the infection of. poliomyelitis. In a small epidemic described by him, the first case became ill on 6th October, with high fever, drowsiness, and tremors, but without developing paralysis. The father of this patient was a dairyman. Another son of this dairyman became ill on the 20th October and exhibited paralysis of the legs. Eight other cases became ill. Four were simultaneously attacked on 20th October. These four belonged to three families, all of which obtained their milk supply from the above dairyman. Wickman is of opinion that milk was the source of infection in this instance. Other articles as a source of infection.—The following observa- tion of Wickman is of interest in this connection :— On 27th July, in Soderkoping, a young man of 22 years of age, became ill with poliomyelitis accompanied by paralysis of one leg. Some time after his illness he travelled to Stockholm and made some sketches while convalescing there. Some of these were