Polo lost Severe On Oilier Children

Northern Advocate, 2 March 1949, Page 8

Polo lost Severe On Oilier Children

AUCKLAND, Wed. (SpJ— I The incidence oi' poliomyelitis between November. 1947, and September, 1948, and *the severity of the cases was worse among older children, stated Dr Elizabeth K. Hughes, medical officer in charge of child poliomyelitis cases at the Auckland Hospital, in an article in the New Zealand Medical Journal. Highest mortality, and most severe involvement, occurred in the higherage groups from 10 to 15. However, the number of cases diagnosed as positive decreased in the reverse proportion. Dr Hughes stated that babies under one year were not subject to the disease to any great extent, while in the next group, one to live, 80 comparatively mild cases were admitted. There were no deaths, although several cases were left with permanent disability in one limb.

In the age group five to 10 there was one death in 70 cases, and muscle spasm was most noticeable.

DISABILITY

Two deaths resulted in the 32 cases in the next group, from 10 to 15, while considerable residual disability remained in a high proportion of cases. Adults suffered more severely, as the few who survived the respirator were left with considerable permanent impairment of the motor function. More acute cases occurred in the early stages of the epidemic, and all three deaths among juvenile" cases occurred in the first two and a half months.

In a summary, Dr Hughes stated that 33 per cent of the cases admitted to the hospital were under 10 years of age, and in 47 per cent of cases muscle spasm took place without paralysis. LIFTING OF RESTRICTIONS

She also noted that common virus diseases, namely influenza, chicken pox and the common cold, appeared to be responsible for precipitating latent poliomyelitis. Dr Hughes considered that the least possibility of permanent disability existed when the patient was exposed to the disease while under 10 years of age, when immunity could be obtained with little possibility of danger from actual paralysis. ‘ She claimed that, on these grounds, restrictions should be lifted after the first two or three months of an epidemic. She found that the most effective treatment of muscle spasm was the application of moist heat by Kenny packs, followed by hot baths and active and passive exercise.