LAST 24 HOURS

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 155, 29 December 1936, Page 8

LAST 24 HOURS

OFFICIAL BULLETIN

The following bulletin covering the infantile paralysis epidemic for the twenty-four hours ended 9 a.m. today has been issued by the Health Department:—

"There are no cases in Canterbury except the one reported from Timaru yesterday. The doubtful cases which have been admitted to hospital in Christchurch have been proved negative. In Dunedin a six-year-old girl, who was admitted to the hospital, was found to be a positive case, but she is not suffering from paralysis. Her case is a mild one. A boy of five years from Waipori has been placed under observation. These are the only cases notified during the twenty-four hours.

"The Wellington patients are doing well. It is very doubtful whether the boy of 15 who was admitted to the Wellington Hospital on Sunday has contracted the disease; and extreme doubt also exists in the cases of the other two Wellington children who are also still in isolation. The Dunedin boy in the Wellington Hospital is free from paralysis."

Although there has been a marked falling-bff in the number of cases reported, the Health Department urges parents and others responsible for the control or care of children not to relax their efforts to keep the children away from crowds or assemblies.

The Department unequivocally denies a rumour that it has been suppressing the announcement of notified cases. Every case that has been notified to the Department, whether doubtful or positive, has been reported to the Press.