INFANTILE PARALYSIS

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 53, Issue 3846, 16 December 1936, Page 6

INFANTILE PARALYSIS

CASES REPORTED FROM DUNEDIN. ALL SCHOOLS CLOSED. In an effort to check the spread of infantile paralysis, definite cases having occurred in Dunedin and other southern centres, the Minister of Education issued instructions on Monday te close all State schools in the Dominion at once. As a consequence, the midsummer vacation has commenced about a week earlier than usual. Parents are asked to assist in seeing that children do not congregate in large bodies inside buildings, this precaution being strongly recommended by medical authorities as the best means of preventing the spread of this terrible epidemic. To date no case of infantile paralysis has been reported in the Auckland province, but precautionary measures are being adopted. Latest reports from the south show that there is one suspected case in Wellington and one in Canterbury. PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES. IMPORTANCE OF FRESH AIR. The Minister of Education, the Hon. F. Fraser, announced on Monday that in view of the outbreak of infantile paralysis in Dnnedin it has been decided, as a precautionary measure, to commence the school holidays from Tuesday throughout the Dominion. In the ordinary course the schools would close on Thursday or Friday this week. The evidence up to the present is that the infection is confined to Dunedin, but it is necessary to take every possible step to prevent it spreading to other districts. In the event of indications of the infection appearing outside Otago, the Health Department, which is closelj' watching the position and has done everything possible to confine the scope of the disease, will issue the necessary instructions to other parts of the Dominion. In the meantime the Health Department emphasises that children should be kept as much as possible in the open air. CANCELLATION OF CAMPS. WELLINGTON, Tuesday. In view of the Otago infantile paralysis outbreak, the Health Department strongly advises as a precautionary measure that health camps as at present arranged should not be held. Authority has been given, however, to use health camps to give a very necessary change to children in orphanages and public institutions as they can be dealt with in groups and without any intermingling with the general population. All school dental clinics have been closed, and a suggestion has been made that gatherings such as scout camps and Sunday schools should be postponed. No cases of infantile paralysis have been reported to the Health Department in Auckland, but warnings which have been issued over the last few days emphasising the need for care were repeated yesterday. That these warnings have been effective is shown by the fact that some parents have been seeking advice about children with customary and temporary illnesses and ailments and it is urged that, while there is no need for panic it is far better for parents to do this than to view such illnesses with unconcern. In accordance with instructions received from the Minister of Health, the Hon. P. Fraser, on Monday, all State schools were dismissed yesterday after the children had assembled to collect their books and to receive certificates for the year’s work. Several secondarv school gatherings in Auckland which had been arranged were cancelled, and others were curtailed so that the children would not be exposed to danger.