INFANTILE PARALYSIS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 207, 30 August 1916, Page 6

INFANTILE PARALYSIS.

WHY SERUM WAS NOT USED LOCALLY. VALUE OF MISS BOOTH'S OFFER. The cabled news received yesterday that Dr. Simon Flexner, director of the Rockefeller Medical Institute, is convinced of the value of treating infantile •paralysis by serum taken from the people who have recovered is of particular interest to Auckland in view of the recent outbreak of the disease in New Zealand, and its interest is emphasised by the further announcement that Miss Theodora Booth, a daughter of General Booth, of the Salvation Army, has of-! fered to submit to inoculation with infantile paralysis virus in order that ex- j pcrfanents may be carried out which' may help to save babies. Questioned this morning as to whether j the medical profession placed much 1 faith in inoculation for the treatment of infantile paralysis. Dr. T. V- Hughes, of the Auckland Public Health Office, who was in charge of the district during the outbreak of last summer, which claimed over 500 victims, remarked that Dr. Flexner had long ago announced that he had discovered a serum for the treatment of the disease, and various medical men made experiments with it. In the majority of cases, however, it was reported that the results had not been encouraging. On the other hand, Dr. Flexner declared 'that he had obtained highly satisfactory results, and his faith in inoculation was apparently not weakened by his experience during the recent terrible outbreak of the disease in New York. During the outbreak of the disease in New Zealand, added Dr. Hughes, attempts were made to import the serum to New Zealand, but it was unobtainable. With regard to Miss Booth's offer. Dr. Hughes observed that it was doubtless a noble one and of practical value to the medical profession. It had been found possible to experiment to some extent with animals, notably monkeys, but the results were not so valuable as would be those made .with a human being. It was found, in experimenting with monkeys, that on injecting the virus the animal developed all the symptoms, including paralysis, but when given erotopin first the premonitory symptoms developed without the actual paralysis- When the disease had developed the blood was drawn off, and the serum obtained from it. Probably this precaution would be taken in the case of Miss Booth if her offer were accepted. Nevertheless there would be a certain amount of risk, and any woman who would consent to be inoculated with the disease, and to have such quantities of blood drawn off as were required, was making a very fine sacrifice on behalf of science and humanity.