H—3l

and cases are still occurring at the time of writing (May, 1949). In all previous epidemics of poliomyelitis in New Zealand the outbreak has commenced in early summer and come to an end in the following winter, and the highest incidence of cases has affected a portion only of the country. In the case of the present outbreak, cases first occurred in Auckland in November, 1947, and for the first six months the epidemic was mainly confined to the Auckland Province and Taranaki. Later in the year cases occurred in considerable numbers in the southern part of the North Island, particularly in Wellington. Towards the end of the year and during 1949 the districts of the South Island reported considerable numbers of cases. Epidemics of poliomyelitis extending over a period of eighteen months or longer are not unknown in other countries, but have not previously been experienced in New Zealand. It is too early yet to attempt a comprehensive report of the whole outbreak, and this must be deferred until a later date. A few details will, however, be of interest, covering the period November, 1947, to December, 1948, inclusive. Table 10 shows the age and sex distribution of all cases (including Maoris) notified between Ist November, 1947, and 31st December, 1948, excluding suspected cases in which the diagnosis was afterwards changed :

Table 10 —Poliomyelitis, 1st November, 1947, to 31st December, 1948

Some particulars as to paralysis are available for 1026 of these patients and are as follows: — Cases. Percentage. Patients with paralysis (including fatal cases) .. 327 31 • 9 Patients with paresis only .. .. ..271 26-4 Patients without paresis .. .. .. 428 41-7 1,026 100-0

14

District. 0 up to 5 Years. 5 up to 10 Years. 10 up to 15 Years. 15 up to 20 Years. Over 20 Years. Totals. Grand Totals. M. F. M. F. M. F. M. F. M. 1 F. M. F. North Auckland .. 4 7 7 6 7 9 6 3 7 4 31 29 60 Central Auckland .. 38 20 58 32 26 26 6 10 33 16 161 104 265 Thames-Tauranga 3 1 5 5 3 2 1 2 2 1 14 11 25 ►South Auckland .. 16 14 28 18 12 7 9 7 22 19 87 65 152 Taranaki 18 14 30 12 18 9 6 3 11 9 83 47 130 East Cape 5 2 6 1 1 1 1 0 6 5 19 9 28 Wellington-Hawkes Bay Central Wellington 15 7 11 7 10 8 6 12 8 10 50 44 94 32 34 40 39 15 24 8 6 34 22 129 125 254 Nelson-Marlborough 5 2 6 4 1 1 1 1 2 3 15 11 26 Christchurch 2 1 5 0 3 0 1 1 2 4 13 6 19 West Coast 3 2 7 2 1 1 2 0 3 4 16 9 25 Timaru 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 2 4 Dunedin 2 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 • 0 6 1 7 Southland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 i 0 143 105 205 127 98 88 48 45 132 98 626 463 1,089