Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-04-20
tHE SPIRIT OF THE AGE
Woodstock, Vermont.
Printed Saturday Morning
bNE DOLLAR A YEAR
INFANTILE PARALYSIS

HVRecord of the Cases of Poliomy-
elitis in Vermont in 1911 as
M Analysed by DR.. C. S. Cav
1 erIy, President of the State
Board of Health-Some Sug-
g gestions by Health Officer
W C. w. Kidder of Woodstock.
& In the quarterly bulletin of the
y Vermont State Board of Health issued
X March |, DIR. Charles S. Caverly of
president of the board, pre-
+ sents an interesting study of anterior
81 polomyelitis (infantile paralysis in
'lNermont in 1911, with tables show
+. Ing the distribution of cases and
various facts concerning the out
abreak of this much feared disease.
{,Srhe first case was reported in March;
t the warm months, as usual showed
4 the largest number of cases, and DIR.
Caverly's article is therefore espec-
ialy timely and worthy OF attention.
Records of 81 cases were obtained
for the year 1911, compared with 72
cases recorded in 1910 The NOR
8 taltv in the state in 1910 was IA
per cent; in 1911 it was twice as
Il great,
4 DISTRIBUTION OF CASES.
n A marked change III the geograph7
j ical distribution of the cases is noted
Il in the past two years. In 1910 IL
per cent of the cases were on the
4 eastern side of the mountains, while
4 last year over 81 per cent were on
the westefn. Rutland county y re-
ported 16, 3, Addison 3. Bennington
2, Windsor 3, other counties having
\ each.
4 1t is noted also that the first seri-
Gus, outbreak recorded lin 1894 J
occurred in the Otter Greek valley,
and, in the lack of exact knowledge
of the injecting organism of polio
myelitis it is merely surmised that
Otter Creek has something to do
with the spread of the disease.
The division of the 81 cases by sex
and age shows that Is were male
and 9 female, IL patients were under
years of age, 4 were 5 to 10 years.
s were 10 to 20, 2 were 20 to 30;
between 30 to 40 years, /; 40 to 50
years, none. The average age of all
these cases was 10 years and 7
months; the average age of those who
died was III years, and of those who
survived 8 years | months.
More than halfof the cases occurred
in detached houses, the surrounding
soil dry, and the houses stood within
90 rods of stream or pond. Domes-
tic animals, especially cats. horses
and hens, were generally either kept
by patients families or were kept IN
the immediate neighborhood. The
sanitary conditions of many of 5the
infected premises were poor. though
there were notable exceptions. Twen-
ty-four of the cases occurred in rail
road towns.
The disease was of g very virulent
type last year, 20 per cent of the re-
corded cases being fatal The com-
mon figures for mortality in this dis
ease are about 8 to IL per cent
While the hottest months show the
greater number of cases. most of the
fatalities of 1911 occurred during the
colder months, there being no deaths
from April to September
ASSIGNED CAUSES.
Among the assigned causes by
attending physicians are mentioned
A boy of IL years was attacked
Immediately after drinking freely ot
birch beer and circus lemonade y;
another boy who worked in a hot
dry-house. was Obliged frequently to
expose himself to the cold November
4 air.
No decided advance has been
made, during the past year, in our
knowledge of the exact cause of pol
yomyelitis or of methods of treating
or preventing it, says DR.. Caverly.
Flexner and Clark have confirmed.
by recent animal experiments, the
fact that the virus is present in the
tonsils and pharyngeal mucosa Of
human beings who succumb to the
disease.
Hence the care that should be con-
stantly exercised in cleansing the
naso-pharynx in cases of the disease