INFANTILE PARALYSIS EPIDEMIC

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXXVI, Issue 14569, 13 January 1948, Page 3

INFANTILE PARALYSIS EPIDEMIC

FURTHER SUSPECTS FOUND

Auckland And Waikato Hospitals

Case Under Observation In

Wellington

One suspected case of infantile paralysis was admitted to the Auckland Hospital last evening. The patient, a child from south of the city, was the first to be admitted to the hospital from the Central Auckland health district since Thursday. There were 51 positive cases and five suspected cases in the hospital last night compared with 54 positive and three suspects a week ago. Four further suspected cases have been admitted to the Waikato Hospital. They are a woman aged 23 from Te Kauwhata, two boys aged 10 from the Morrinsville district and a boy aged 22 months from Te Kowhai. There were ten suspected cases in the Waikato Hospital yesterday. The quarantine restrictions introduced in Fiji in December to prevent the possible spread of infantile paralysis from New Zealand have now been eased. Only a relatively small number of passengers from the infected areas are now disembarking at Fiji air and sea ports and, so long as they remain at a level which enables the Health Department to exercise adequate surveillance of individuals, strict quarantine will be enforced only in certain circumstances.

Absolute discretion still rests with the Fiji Health Department and the arrangements may be altered without notice. Strict quarantine will still be enforced if any suspicious symptoms are present, if there is proved or suspected contact with a paralysis case within 14 days or if there arc particular circumstances such as residence or destination beyond easy reach of a medical officer. “This modified system will only be possible so long as passengers arriving from infected areas comply with the requirements of the health authority,” a Fiji Government spokesman stated. “When any person fails to report regularly or disregards legitimate instructions, strict quarantine may be enforced.” A nine-year-old boy from Tawa Flat was admitted to the Welington Hospital last evening as a suspected case of infantile paralysis. The hospital had been free of both positive and suspected cases for several days. The last previous susoected case was admitted to hospital last Wednesday, and this and several other suspects reported since the beginning of the year were all diagnosed as negative. The last of,six positive cases in Wellington was discharged from hospital on December 30.