The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-06-12
PR0vEfFLiES CARRY
lNFANTlLE PARALYSIS
The Method by Which PoIiomyelitip
Is Sprend seems to BE
ttI-..t .tItft ll5,s E,yptutrad

New York. June ii-Experiments
carried on in the laboratories of the
Her Institute for Medical Re.
search have demonstrated beyond rea-
sonable doubt that the virus of infan-
| tile paralysis is carried from the sick
to the we'll by the common house n.y. f,
It had been readily understood that
! the poisonous element of the disease
is transferred from those suffering
| from It TO persons brough. in contact
with the patients; also that healthy
persons carry the virus from the sick
10 the we'll. but in thinly settled sec
tons Of the country the disease has
spread In manner that could not be
accounted for by any of the foreg going
means of transmission. This led to the
suspicion that the common house ny
was the carrier, and resulted in the
experiments which have heen and are
still being carried OH by DR.. Simon
Flexner. director of the institute, as
sisted by Paul f. Clark. ph. D.
The experiments were made with
monkeys. and the results TO date are
! told by the eXperImenters in the cur
rent issue of the Journal If the Ameri-
can Medical Associat ion
There are still so many unsolved
problems relating to the manner Of the
spread of epidemic pollomyelitis." they
write. that every new fact would at
present point OF view. basal on SEEM
ingly accurate clinical observation. is
TO the effect that many cases of the
disease can be connected with each
other through evidence of direct and
indirect contact OF the III and the we'll
Not all cases. however, have been so
connected. and II remains, therefore. to
ascertain whether any other agency
than human contact may be invoked
III ha ~
infectious agent.
| Perhaps the most bafiing cases are
those which arise at widely distant
points in sparsely settled commun ty
That certain OF these cases are actu-
ally connected with each other through
the intermedia ton of persons comming-
Ing with both the i'll and the well
seems highly probable: but strict sea rch
has failed often to establish the fact
OF such intermediation. Hence the
possibility that insects take part in
the dissemination of the Infection has
been suggested by many writer's. but
| UP 70 this time we have had no actuaI
data on which to support this theory.
Insects that possess the power 10
migrate over a considerable territory,
that AFFECT all classes OF society. that
abound during the period OF greatest
prevalence of the disease and that do
not wholly disappear at any season,
picion. Many, II not all, of these con-
ditions are fulfilled by the common
house fly. which. therefore, has been
subjected to series OF CONTAINING
ton experiments
The flies employed by US have been
laboratory bred Full-grown lilies have
been permitted TO feed on the fresh sninal
cord removed from monkeys inoculated
| with the virus of poliomyelitis and
recently paralyZed. After feeding. the
fiies have been removed to "a fresh re-
ceptacle, from which certain numbers
were removed at intervals killed with
ether. then comminuted (ground up)
solution"
The first experiment with the uttered
solution was made with a monkey.
Thls particular solution was prepared
! from the bodies of seven nies which
! had lived in clean SURROUNDINGS for
twenty-four hours, after having fed on
the spinal cord OF a monkey recently
paraiyzed S the result OF poliomyelitls.
me solution was injected into the
brain Of a healthy monkey on MAY ..
after recovery from the ether used
TO render the injection OF the solution
painless, the monkey remained well
until May S. when il showed signs or
weakness On May 9 the monkey be-
came very nervous and excftable svmn-
=
paralysis in the human being, and the
LEFT arm showed paralysis. During the
day the paralysis increased and spread
TO the riSht arm. On May 10 the legs
were also paralyzed. The animal was
Killed that day.
second experiment was carried on
al me same time 1t began on NAV s.
and the Nitrate was prepared from The
oodies OF ten flies which had fed forty
eiSht hours before on the spinal cord
OF lived monkey. The inoculatcd
n InonkeS remained well until May 10.
| Paralysis Of all four cxtremities deval.
oped by the next day. and the animal
was therized. The autopsy revealed the
characteristic LESSONS OF poiionyelitis.
The experiments recorded" the
writer's say In conclusion. merely show
mat flies contaminated with the virus
OF poliomyelttis harbor the virus in =
living and infectious state for a least
weight hours" fs'>,D,l