ANOTHER CASE AT TIMARU

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21989, 13 January 1937, Page 10

ANOTHER CASE AT TIMARU

INFANTILE PARALYSIS EPIDEMIC AUTHORITIES HOPE FOR MORE FROSTS Another case of poliomyelitis has been admitted to the Timaru Hospital, the patient being a woman aged 38 years, from Maungati, 20 miles inland from Timaru. The woman was admitted to hospital on Saturday as a suspect, and the : diagnosis has since proved the case a positive one. Paralysis has not developed, however. This brings the total of positive cases for the Canterbury-Westland district to eight, but Christchurch remains free. Furthermore, if warm days and frosty nights continue, the health authorities expect the epidemic to wane steadily. A girl aged two was admitted to the Timaru Hospital as a suspected case yesterday, and there are two other cases in the hospital at the present time. Frosts were very effective in destroying germs, Dr. T. Fletcher Telford said yesterday, and the prospects were very bright if warm days and cool nights continued. Only an extremely hot spell of weather during the next week, or two could raise the ■ ground temperature to the normal level, and while it remained low there, was no great opportunity for the disease to spread. Meanwhile, Dr. Telford is very pleased with the manner in which the public continues to take precautions. If no more cases are reported before the end of the month, he says, there seems no reason why the restrictions should be continued. The Minister for Health, the Hon. P. Fraser, has given his approval to recommendations by the department that the period of isolation for cases of the disease should be reduced from six weeks to four weeks. Similarly the period of quarantine for contacts has been reduced from 14 days to 10 days. Although they are thoroughly cleaned after each journey, railway carriages from the south are not being fumigated, but Dr. Telford said yesterday that this was quite unnecessary, as the disease was transferred only from person to person. The title usually given to the disease was really a misnomer, said Dr. Telford, as was shown by the number of adult patients. The only correct name for it was the anatomical name of poliomvelitis. To-day Dr. Telford will again visit Timaru, where he will confer with the health authorities on the conditions existing in that district. TWO MORE CASES AT DUNEDIN FIRST ADMISSIONS SINCE FRIDAY NIGHT (PRESS ASSOCIATION TELEQBAM.) DUNEDIN, January 12. There were no admissions of positive or suspected cases of infantile paralysis to the Dunedin Hospital from Friday night' until this afternoon, when two positive cases without paralysis were admitted. One was a boy aged six and the other a woman aged 20. Both belong to the Dunedin district. A man, aged 20, who lives at Milton, was taken to the Balclutha Hospital to-day suffering from paralysis. Except that no children under 16 were allowed on shore, no restrictions were placed on the movements of passengers on the intercolonial steamer Marama, which berthed at DUnedin this morning. No observation trip was run to Waipori because of the presence of infantile paralysis in that district.