INFANTILE PARALYSIS 



2988 



INFANT MORTALITY 



cially susceptible, and which sometimes attacks 

 adults. Its scientific name is anterior polio- 

 myelitis. It is much dreaded because it is 

 attended by paralysis of the muscles, due to 

 the fact that the poison introduced into the 

 system infects the spinal column. It is essen- 

 tially a summer disease. The infection is 

 caused by a special microbe, the nature of 

 which is not fully understood. At various 

 times after the disease was first recognized, in 

 1840, epidemics appeared both in Europe and 

 America, an especially severe one occurring in 

 the summer of 1916 in New York; and other 

 American cities caused health authorities and 

 physicians to exhaust every possible means of 

 preventing and curing the infection. The 

 death rate in New York City was about 

 twenty-two per cent. 



The disease does not spread in the same 

 manner as does smallpox or. diphtheria, but is 

 transmitted by the most roundabout routes. 

 Ten or twelve cases may appear in one neigh- 

 borhood, and another group be in a different 

 neighborhood, from one to three or four miles 

 away. Often there will be but one case in a 

 single family or apartment building. In other 

 words, the control of the disease has been made 

 especially difficult because it is as yet impos- 

 sible to trace the source of any single case. 

 It has been aptly described as a "pestilence 

 that walketh in darkness." At the same time 

 health authorities unite in urging parents of 

 young children to take stringent precautions 

 against it (see subhead ' below, Preventive 

 Measures). It is thought by some that the 

 disease is spread by persons having so mild an 

 attack that the symptoms are not recognized. 



Symptoms. Early symptoms are fever (not 

 usually higher than 103), vomiting, bowel dis- 

 turbances and headache. Accompanying these 

 there may be symptoms associated with other 

 diseases, such as sore throat and infected ton- 

 sils, discharges from nose and eyes, and a 

 distressing cough. Specially characteristic of 

 infantile paralysis, however, are the pains that 

 occur in the legs and feet, stiffness of the neck 

 and sensitiveness of the spine-. Complete 

 paralysis of the limbs is liable to result within 

 twelve hours. Following this there may be 

 delirium and convulsions. Diagnosis of the 

 disease is difficult whenever the resulting 

 paralysis is slight or transient, and to overcome 

 this difficulty physicians test the muscles by a 

 specially-devised apparatus. 



Treatment. The injection into the spinal 

 column of blood serum taken from a person 



cured of the disease has been found to be 

 the most helpful single remedy. The treat- 

 ment of infantile paralysis is still in the ex- 

 perimental stage, and much advancement in 

 this particular field is expected within the next 

 few years. Doctors advise the most careful 

 nursing, including the application of heat to 

 paralyzed limbs. Cases that recover some- 

 times require months of persistent effort to 

 prevent permanent weakness of the limbs. In 

 some instances the paralyzed limbs are too 

 tender to be touched for some time after the 

 beginning of the attack, but massage may be 

 commenced within two weeks in mild cases. 

 Manipulation and massage or electrical treat- 

 ments, directed by a reliable physician, are 

 considered absolutely essential, and they must 

 be kept up as long as there is evidence of 

 weakness. Otherwise the muscles will shrink 

 and the child become permanently lame. 

 Surgical appliances, such as braces or splints, 

 are often resorted to to prevent lameness or 

 deformities. 



Preventive Measures. When any community 

 is subjected to the peril of infantile paralysis, 

 all of the children should be protected in every 

 possible way. They should be kept scrupu- 

 lously clean and their diet should be watched 

 carefully. Raw fruit and vegetables that are 

 unripe or over-ripe, or that have been ex- 

 posed to flies or dirt, must not be eaten, and 

 the mother must restrain the child in his fond- 

 ness for candy, soda water, ice cream and ice 

 water. Do not patronize street vendors of 

 fruits and vegetables, or food merchants who 

 do not keep their premises in a strictly sanitary 

 condition, is one warning of the physician. 

 Flies, neglected garbage and sick animals about 

 the house must not be tolerated. It is also 

 wise to keep the children out of all crowded 

 places. Health authorities insist on strict 

 quarantine rules, all victims of the disease 

 being isolated in their homes or in hospitals. 

 Persons known to have been exposed to the 

 disease are also placed in quarantine. W.A.E. 



INFANT MORTALITY, mawrtal'iti. The 

 subject of the death rate among young chil- 

 dren, who constitute the material that goes 

 into the making of the citizen body, is a matter 

 of vital interest to the state. Investigations 

 show that about one-fifth of all the people who 

 die in a specified period are infants under one 

 year of age, and that almost one-fourth of the 

 total deaths are of children two years old or 

 less. While statistics vary for different coun- 

 tries, it has been established that young babies 



