INFANTILE PARALYSIS

Marlborough Express, Volume L, Issue 86, 11 April 1916, Page 6

INFANTILE PARALYSIS

CAUSE, SYMPTOMS, AND

TREATMENT

In the medical columns, of the Globe (Sydney), in reply to a. query regarding jiif<*.iitiie . paralysis, the following was recently ]>üblished: —

The disea:* familiarly known as jn.fan.ti.ie pa.n-iyr-as enjoys the unwieldy technical appellation of acute auteiior poliomyelitis, and lias of bite years aroused much interest since the recognition of ', its frequent appearance i.a epidemic form. The reason for the lengthy nnnie is that it i.s one ot the few diseases which is accurately and scientifically deAcrib^cl in accordance \yiyh it* piociso jros-itiozi in the body—so noou;-itt?ly, 'indeed, that sibnps't anyone ignorant in the practice of inedHuno, hxit versed m the a'Mitoniv of the body, could unhesitatingly Aie.soribe its position, .i^eileci;ing upon tins '.i:tie foi'a. niomeht, .;w& fcdon get 'an' apniecriative estimate of its.,tine sig'iificance. in, the first place, ihe preftx'it Is signifies i'lflamsniation, as in the tv wrnis prastritis and bronchiiis, wliicn i-espe<dively signify Kastiic r,nd bronchial inflammation. The woid asi tcrior clearly indicates thai, the inflammation is na the front portion of the L>>rti, whilst the \vord acute .Minifies that it is a disease which ha,-s s!j'nii"n. up rapidly, and is c>)va!:actoris(Mi by pain, heat, redness, and swelling r>l: the pa its affected. l.'he profix only indii-ates that many parts ate afl'f-icttfrj, anc^ ie title may thus be ttw.J.slat«i in as few words as ]K)S.uble hy saying that jna,ny cells in Ihe prey maUer o! the antei-ioj- horns o*' the sp«n-nI ooixl are f.cute'y innamed, the whoio being due to the ravages of a m-crobe. The disease is usually oi p.c.ite and .-vuTden onset, ocouuing connuonly in young children, and cha-i-jfAensod fey loss/ of po\v-c vr, with '.c^isional subsequent wasting of tlu^ part affected, but withoiir. loss <>•- .M.usation or organic contiol. By far the greater number of «iws oociir duiing the first throe year's or lifts and Ihe. period of the xear when the onset is most common i?. in the. warm summer :ronths. The ii.ttav.k is sudden, a.nd resembles an Jicute rheumatic- pain throughout theKmb affecteti. The temperature is raised, with frequent vomiting in niauy cases, :inu sometimes convulsions, but the symptoms are variable in the extreme. After the child has been confiiied to bed for a fe-.v days, it i;> noticed tli.-ifc one m more Tinibs ore pa.ra.ly.so.i-], the extent of the para■ysis being mvat'inbly greatest at the onset, when all iouv limbs may be involved As time goes on, however, matters improve until, at tlie most, (me lov>or limb remains partially paralysed., ami ihe other perhaps somewhat v.-oalr. This is entirely in heeping with t'M v pathology of the. disease, for in the few cases in which the spinal cord Mas been examined in tire early stages, the grov matter is deep red In color and much softened, 'flu; intensity ol vhe inflamiration is confined to one .>pot, and .above arid below tliis the congestion' beco/nes !e.ss and ie*s. As time passes much oi: ihe vi'dnass disappears, being merely duo to t.'ul overflow of blood, but the actual ; e.tt of the; destruction i-envvins, for licre the colls are (l.ost'"oyod for all time." T.t is the nii!SL-l(\-i wliirh c'erivo tli-.sr nourishment from, or are under the control o< liipsi! cells, which suffer, and only by -the vnosc cnrfiul and . assiduous attention rill full »rowth hr.s i.<^en reached is it nnsf--ib!e to prevent the '"osi: .•;(■')• ioi.is deformity from arising. This is the stage which is strictly known as infantile, paralysis, when tho 'ii'tlo .-jiuT-'ii.'}l jiceds :ul <>uv