POLIOM YELITIS 203 



disease typical of scarlatina. The virus may be also in the 

 peeling skin. 



Measles. As in the former disease various microorganisms 

 have been held responsible but no certain one can be con- 

 victed. The virus in the blood of patients, in their nasal and 

 buccal secretions, and when any of these are transferred to a* 

 monkey a fever quite like that of the human disease will 

 develop. The viruses of both diseases are filterable. 



German Measles. This is a mild infection transmitted by 

 secretions of the nose and throat, which should be disinfected. 



The last three diseases form the bulk of the infections of 

 early life. They are comparable in being easily transmitted 

 and almost exclusively by direct personal contact or by 

 contact with objects freshly soiled with secretions from the 

 nose and throat. Their period of infectivity is from just 

 before the onset until the catarrhal lesions of the upper air 

 passages have disappeared. Fortunately the viruses are 

 easily destroyed by the usual disinfectants. 



Poliomyelitis. This is an acute apparently infectious dis- 

 ease characterized by a mild constitutional illness followed 

 by gradually appearing and progressing paralyses. It may 

 be sporadic or appear in epidemics. The infective agent and 

 its mode of transmission are not known. It probably enters 

 by the nose and throat. The virus is present in the feces, 

 blood, lymph glands, and especially in the central nervous 

 system. It is so small that it will pass through porcelain 

 filters such as are used for water purification. The disease 

 may be reproduced in monkeys by injecting this virus by 

 almost any route, and it is strictly comparable to that seen 

 in human beings. It is not known how the virus leaves the 

 body, but as the nose and throat seem the most likely places, 

 they should be disinfected in both frank and mild ambulant 

 cases and in attendants by the use of hydrogen peroxide 

 solution. On account of the otherwise inexplicable transfer 

 of the disease to new places it is supposed that healthy per- 

 sons carry the infection probably in the nose and throat. A 



