Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-01-21
HISTORIC SCOURGES
X-Infantile Paralysis.
By FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

The latest, but by no means the least,
disease to menace health Is the compare
lively modern infantile paralysis. which,
since the opening of the present century,
has been almost worldwide In its scope
and manifestations. 1t has occurred with
especial virulence in the United States.
For several decades the disease has ragged
in Scandinavian countries, whence. I'M
doubtedly, it was transmitted to our east
ern shores by immigration. In 1s41 there
was an epidemic of infantile paralysis in
New Orleans: thence onward the few
cases were merely sporadic and not par
ticuarly noticeable. But 1905 witnessed
a deadly outbreak in Sweden. Australia
was visited in 1903 and 1908. and Ger
many in 1909.
In the United States since 1907 there
have been many thousands of cases. New
York city alone had $500 cases in 1907.
Pennsylvania reported 65S cases in forty
five counties in 1910, and in the region
around Springfield, Mass. in May and
100 deaths. Hartford. Boston. Seattle.
Des Moines. Washington. D. c., and the
Scandinavian-settled parts of Minnesota
reported serious epidemics, with an alarm
ing proportion Of deaths. The worst time
seems to be the warmer months of the
year. The scourge usually disappears
with the advent of cold weather The
focus of infection seems to have been In
1907, along the east seaboard and in such
receiving ports for Scandinavian imn1i-
grafton as New York and Boston.
AS the name implies. infantile paralysis
attacks children and adolescents. rivaling
in its deadly re-
Attacks Children suits those twin
scourges of child
and scarlet fever. Expressed in popular
terms, the disease is characterized by an
acute Inflammation of the spinal cord,
bringing about partial or total paralysis
of certain muscles and nerves which
shrivel, dry up and atrophy, followed by
death. If checked in time. recovery Of the
affected centers usually will ensue. al
though the little patients may suffer from
stunted growth. retarded muscular devel-
opment, curvature of the spine, drop
foot" and generally impaired bodily nu-
triton.
Eight to fifteen per cent of those attack
ed die, and seventy-fve per cent of those
life. The disease Is generally acute, at
lacking infants and children from one to
five years of age, although several cases
among youths and maidenS between six
teen and twenty -four have been known.
Deaths from infantile paralysis as late
as the ages Of sixty and sixty-three have
been recorded. In 1910 there were four
cases of infantile paralysis among stu
dents at Princeton University which
aroused much attention
* X
The symptoms of incubation, especially
among little ones who cannot describe
their sufterings. are
Various Stages marked peevishness,
Of the Malady. rabbit. or the d.
rect reverse, an almost stolid and stodgy
apathy. When the real attack begins there
is sweating, pain in the back and limbs,
neckache and headache. The child VIII
not be able to sit UP nor hold up its head.
In many cases there are digestive disturb
ances. Very shortly there supervenes pa
ralysis-perhaps with delirium-especially
in the leg muscles. A definite group of
muscles may be involved or but one ex-
tremity, or the trunk, or the upper ex-
tremities. Permanent paralysis usually
affects the legs, rarely the arms. Perhaps
the paralysis is preceded by muscular
twitchingS and sensitiveness when touch
ed. Other symptoms, such as squint, will
vary according to the parts of the nerv-
Gus system affected. Blood changes are
marked in this disease. Infantile paraly-
sis often has been mistaken for meningitis
and for rheumatism.
For some years physicians differed as
to the primary causes of infantile paraly-
vn0infininO fhof he 1icoo GO
was spread wholly by infection, others
holding that previous mishaps, such as
falls, measles. Group and the like, gave
rise to LESSONS which predisposed the
new disorder. But gradually, and in the
light of wider experience, the latter
named supposedly predisposing causes
have been eliminated. incubation by
infection Is now considered to be the
chief cause. although some of the many
leave the system in weakened con-
dition and unable to fight off the virus
OF infanttle paralysis. 1t is known
also that the virus may be carried by
well persons from the infected to the un-
infected. and as the period of incubation
varies from five to thirty-five days 1t
becomes quite clear that immigrants from
infected districts may. and frequently
do, transfer the disease across the At
lantic before its detection through quar-
antine examination or detention becomes
possible.
American doctors who have had the
opportunity to watch the course of epi-
denies of infan-
How the Poison tile paralysis
~ have decided
~ 0VnseySu' that the poison
may be conveyed by the bites of insects,
by dust or through swimming. or bathing
in sewage-contaminated waters. Observers
have noted that an epidemic or distemper
among domestic animals, chickens and
the like, was closely followed by an
outbreak of infantile paralysis among
human beings near at hand. There, Of
course, the already well known fact that