INFANTILE PARALYSIS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 29 December 1925, Page 2

INFANTILE PARALYSIS.

OUTBREAK IN SYDNEY. PREVENTIVE MEASURES. The infantile paralysis outbreak in Sydney is naturally causing concern to parents in Auckland who have- vivid memories of what happened there <* year ago (states an exchange). It is certain that all reasonable precautions will be taken to prevent a disease, which is always present in New land, from gaining a now lease of life through the introduction of cases from Australia. In the Auckland district only seven cases have been reported since the end of May last, and only one lias occurred since August. The figures are: April .17, May 11, June 3, July 2, August 1, September 0, October 0, December to date 0. The Health Department officers are not alarmed by the Sydney report. So far they have heard nothing officially of the ouc break. "If tlie trouble in Sydney is serious, we are fairly sure to be told about it by our local office," said Dr H. Ch-esson. "The Department keeps well in touch with Australia and will certainly make any inquiries that are needed. Naturally we are guided l by official information of that kind." Dr Chesson was not surprised to find disease cropping up in Sydney at this time of the year seeing that it is endemic everywhere, and isolated eases are reported frequently in different part's of New Zealand. "There are a few special preventive measures- that we need take at present,’ 5 he explained. "Of course we could advise parents- to keep their children at home; we could prohibit picnics and stop all kinds of gatherings, but if we did all the things that some people say we should do, there would be such an awful fuss that it would not be worth the trouble. We need something to work upon. If the disease should appear, we can take measures against it, but we cannot prevent its appearance because it is with us- -always." Asked about precautions against importing cases from Sydney, Dr. Chesson said that naturally all children would be carefully examined before landing in order' to discover, if possible, any signs of the disease. As the voyage took some days the trouble, if present, would have a little time in which to develop. He could see no need at present for putting all children into quarantine on arrival and taking swabs from their throats, unless the situation were really serious. Such measures would certainly be resented. Infantile paralysis came and went at quite irregular intervals. When it attacked the community drastic measures would be taken to check it. Dr. Gilmour, pathologist at the Auckland Hospital, stated that supplies of serum for treating infantile paralysis were not kept at the institution for the reason that the preparation would not keep. "In the event of an outbreak,” said Dr. Gilmour,_ “there would,he no difficulty in obtaining blood from expatients for the making of serum, aud only 24 hours would be required for preparing it.”