No Further Cases Of Poliomyelitis In Grey District

Greymouth Evening Star, 8 October 1948, Page 6

No Further Cases Of Poliomyelitis In Grey District

No further cases of poliomyelitis, suspected or positive, have been reported at Greymouth since Monday when a Ngahere girl was admitted to hospital, the surgeon superintendent of the Grey Hospital, Dr S. Barclay stated today. The four child sufferers from the disease who 'are in the Grey Hospital are all making satisfactory progress and it is stated that they have the disease in a relatively mild form. The following summary of the symptoms of the disease and precautions which may be taken has been prepared for publication by a West Coast doctor:—

Virus Disease Poliomyelitis, or infantile paralysis, is an infectious disease produced by an extremely minute germ called a virus. In the great majority of cases the disease takes the form of an in-fluenza-like illness which may be extremely mild or may be quite severe. As with influenza, a wide variety 01 symptoms may be produced—tiredness, headache, vomiting, diarrhoea, catarrh, and so forth. This short illness is the usual course of the disease. In a very small proportion of cases, estimated by some as one in every 200, the virus affects the nervous system. It can do this in several ways. In one variety of attack on the nervous system, not always the most common, the result is an inflammation of the spinal cord. In the more severe of these inflammations, the nerves of the muscles are affected producing effects which vary from a transient soreness, to a complete and permanent paralysis. If, this paralysis chances to involve vital muscles, death follows, It is fair to say, that for every patient who dies of the disease, there must be thousands who contract the infection. We do not know the full story of how the disease is spread but we believe that it can be spread through the discharges from the nose and mouth. It can thus be contracted by being coughed on, sneezed on, shouted at or by using unwashed eating and drinking utensils. It is also believed that it may be spread by the stools and thus by flies. It is well known that a person can carry the disease and spread it without being in any way ill himself. Thus no person can afford to neglect some simple precautions. Suggested Precautions 11) Wash your hands after going to toilet. Wash your hands before meals and dry them on your own towel. (2) Do not eat or- drink from previously used unwashed utensils. (3) Do not cough or sneeze on other people’or let yourself be coughed on or sneezed unon,. (4) Use only vour own handkerchief. (5) Avoid crowds of any sort particularly indoors. (6) Keep out in the fresh air wearing a hat in hot sun. (7) Do not travel or mix with strangers. 18) If you are ill see your doctor. (9) Protect all food against flies.

These rules apply as forcibly to children as to adults and require to be emphasised particularly to children. They do not offer anyone complete immunity, but if widely carried out would reduce the spread of the disease. Gargles, mouthwash, inhalations and injections, are all generally regarded as useless as preventives. The Health Departmeant is responsible for seeing, through the Health Inspector), that those precautions which its experts consider have any value are forthwith taken. Once the case has been notified to the Health Department, precautions are entirely its responsibility. The hospital authorities have no responsibilities in this regard. The public can rest assured that if the Health Inspector’s instructions are fully carried out, no further steps need be taken. In every epidemic one finds a number of people who, however good their motives, waste time and cause relatives unnecessary worry and suffering by well meant but stupid interference. Private approaches by --individuals, to doctors, relatives and local bodies, concerning their own ideas of isolation, etc., where a case has occurred are to be deplored. Likewise, it ill behoves any member of the public to criticise families who have had the misfortune to have a relative develop the disease. Question of Treatment The truth is that in a particular case of this disease whether paralysed or not in the acute stage the patient will die, recover with permanent paralysis. or recover completely, according to' the severity of the attack. No treatment, whatever, has any influence on this and all that can be done in the acute stage is to conserve the patient’s strength, maintain nourishment, and ease pain. After the acute stage has passed, much may be done to improve the use the patient gets of the remaining muscle function. It is in this connection, the making- of the best use of the function remaining when the disease has passed, that argument has arisen as to the relative merits of various treatments including the socalled Kenny methods. It should be clearly understood that provided the chosen treatment is carefully and thoroughly carried out, the results in most cases are surprisingly good. But there is no treatment which will make destroyed nerve cells grow again, and there is. to repeat, no treatment which will halt the natural course of the acute stage of the illness. The only safe rule' is to obtain a doctor when any child or adult who is unwell, has much headache or vomiting, stiffness of the neck or tender painful limbs, or if they seem unduly irritable.