New-York tribune., 1916-07-15
Adrenalin an Enigma,
Says Emerson; 80
New Deaths.
HEALTH PASSPORT
ISSUED BY CITY
Hundreds of Travellers
Seek Certificates Dis
ease lnvades West Side. &.

"Dr. Meltzer's suggestions for the
treatment of infantile paralysis will
receive serious consideration at the
hands of the Health Department, but
il is probable that too much impor-
tance, from a medical standpoint, has
been attached to the possibility Of
using adrenalin as a cure"
This statement was made yesterday
by Health Commissioner Emerson, in
commenting on the address by DR.. S.
j. Meltzer, of the Rockefeller Insti-
tute, on Thursday night in Aeolian
Hall. Hopes that the spread of the
disease could be checked by the use of
adrenalin we're not we'll grounded at
the present time, Commissioner Emer-
son declared.
Scourge Keeps Gaining.
Though every practical resource in
the Health Department has now been
called into the fight against the plague,
its menace continues. One hundred
and sixty-two new cases and thirty-one
deaths were reported to the depart
ment during the twenty-four hours
ended at 10 o'clock yesterday morning
an increase of forty-fve cases and
seven deaths over Thursday.
Some Progress in Cure.
1t was said yesterday at the ofhces
of the Health Department that the
treatment for nfantle paralysis advo-
Gated by DR.. Meltzer had been used to
some extent during the present cpl
demic at the Kingston Avenue Hos
pitaI. Brooklyn. Results were gener-
ally favorable.
Commissioner Emerson declared that
suggestions for treatment having the
authority of such Investigators as Dr
Meltzer always received serious con-
sideration from the department.
ain this case" the commissioner con-
tinued, "the suggestions were at once
referred TO the members of the Healtn
DEPARTMENTS medical staff.
~ have no personal opinion on the
matter or on any cure not pelng useu
generally in our hospitals. DoclorS
must use their own judgment about the
use of adrenalin. When the Health De-
nortment opens hospital 1T appoints
a visiting staff of physicians VINO serve
without pay. They use their own Judg-
ment in the treatment OF cases
Time a Test of Remedy.
"Dr Meltzer did not say he had
cure for infantile paralysis, ana no
physician who values his reputation
will say that in experiments IN one
case. or even ten, he has found CURE
Only when hundreds OF chiidren nave
been treated under similar conu,.lons
can definite statements as to results pe
made" 80. u.L Co.
,;ce il was learned yesterday, has been
exnerimenting with adrenalin, put ne
cause of the comparatively small num-
her of patients treated no conclusions
a TO results have yet been drawn.
Central Park West has been INVADED
nv the paralysis plague, case having
been reported yesterday from an apart,
wont house between Ninety-seventh ana
Ninety -eigth Streets. ,.d
Of the new cases 122 were discovered
in Brooklyn, fourteen IN Mammalian
eleven in Queens, nine In Richmond
and six in the Bronx.
Deaths Now Number 3i2.
The toll OF the epidemic has now
been 3i2 deaths in approximately l''ls
cases a mortality of about 20 per cent
No nreyious great epidemic has caused
50 high a percentage OF deaths.
A marked increase in the number o'
infantile paralysis cases in New Jer-
sew was reported yesterday for the
second successive day. The State
Health Department announced, a,
/ Trenton, that twenty new cases mao
been found. making a total OF l5o ~
/ the state. almost all IN clties ana towns
noar New York. Sixteen cases were
found in Newark. where the epidemic
is rapidly assuming alarming proper
.ions' The other new cases were IN
Continued on page !. column