Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-07-07
US. EXPERTS SENT HERE
TO PREVENT SPREAD OF
INFANTLE PARALYSIS
Will Arrive Tomorrow to Assist
City and State in Checking
Disease Among
Children
NO EPIDEMIC, SAYS KRUsEN

Experts from the general service podtu
of the United States Public Health Service
at Washington we're ordered to philadelphia
today to assist the city and State health
officials in establishing precautionary meas
ures against the invasion of infantile parai-
ysis
They will probably arrive tomorrow
morning and confer Immediately with Doc
tor Krusen director of the Department of
Public Health and Charities, and assist the
department with their technical expert
knowledge of preventive methods.
Philadelphia already has established
strong first line of defense against invasion
of the epidemic which is gripping Brook
lyn and Greater New York. And II was
announced this afternoon by Doctor Krusen
that additional precautions would be taken
until the city becomes as near impregnable
to the epidemic as 1t is possible TO make 1t.
VICTIM SERIOUSLY ILL
Florence Alexander. years old, daughter
of Samuel Alexander, Of 1880 East Erie
avenue, the latest of the only two victims
of the malady, who was taken to the Mu'
nicpal Hospital at . o'clock this morning,
developed total paralysis Of the legs this
afternoon She is in serious condition.
The other victim, Joseph Curran, II
months old, of 2125 Delaware avenue, Ken
sington, was the first one to be taken to the
Special ward in the hospital.
Besides a special ward and a special
corps of trained physicians and nurses at
the Municipal Hospital for the care of the
cases, Director Krusen has appointed two
| specialists of the pediatrlc stan of the hos
pital to answer calls of families and med
| ioal men, These two specialists have been
given an automobile for the special pur-
pose of making quick trips in answer to
| such calls.
CAIRNS STUDIES METHODS.
| DR.. A. A. Cairns, chief medical inspector
| Of the Department of Health, is in New
| York today comforting with specialists of
| the Department of Health there. He Is
| learning the latest methods being employed
| there for the care and disposition of cases
| and the general precautionary measures
| being taken. He will return to Philadel-
| phia tonight prepared to put into effect
| here whatever measures he has learned
that will be necessary to guard against the
| malady
Director Krusen Is having printed today
pamphlet which will be used as a form
| letter to be mailed to physicians through
out the city, giving them instructions on
the scientific precautions necessary. He eX-
| poets the pamphlets to be off the presses
tonight and will have them mailed tomor-
| row.
NO EPIDEMIC, SAYS KRUSEN.
| There ia no infantile paralysis epidemic
| in Philadelphia" Doctor Krusen said AT
present there are known to be only two
cases of the disease in the city. They have
been isolated in the ward which has been
/
| Hospital Two cases do not make an
| epidemic.
II believe that Philadelphia is in no
danger of a general spreading of the dis
ease. One of the principal reasons 1t has
| taken such a hold in New York and Brook
lyn is because of the extremely congested
districts there. Philadelphia is city of
| homes AS a consequence, a majority or
such diseases are individually isolated. But
regardless of the fact that conditions are
| araI ,.ytth
in New York and Brooklyn. we are not
overlooking any precautionary measures.
INSTRUCTIONS TO PUBLIC.
IT would like to instruct the people
through the EVENING LEDGER on what they
should do to help the Department of
Health
First Send for the family physician the
minute your child is taken sick. OF special
Importance is this to be done II the child
has high fever, is stricken with nausea
| and becomes apathetic.
Second. II the family physician Is in
doubt he should be requested to send to
the Health Department for one of our
trained diagnosticians.
Third If you are afraid of possible in
lection or of carrying infection, do not kiss
| a child's lips. Also be wary of persons who
are coughing or sueezing.
Fourth-Keep flies away from the
| child's face. Swat the fly.
Fifth-In caring for a sick child keep the
hands thoroughly clean.
Sixth-Particular sanitary care of the
| personnel and habitations should be taken
Seventh. Make sure of the sanitary con-
dition of all food and drink.
"If these rules are followed by the people
| of Philadelphia 1t will be almost impossible
for infantlle paralysis to become epidemic
here
OUTDOOR CAMPS URGED.
DR.. Charles x. Mills emeritus professor
of neuresthenia in the University of Penn
| sylvania and senior member of the stan of
the Philadelphia Hospital who has made
investigations of infantile paralysis epi-
denies and conducted campaigns against
them in the Lehigh Valley, on the Atlantic
coast and In Sweden, advises the establish
| ment OF outdoor camps entirely isolated
IL the disease should obtain foothold in
Philadelphia.
while the exact methods in which
| poliomyelatis, or tnfantile paralysis" said
Doctor Mills, spreads in a community has
not been fully established, there are good
| reasons for believing that this disastrous
result is brought about in two or three
ways
'In the first place. the infection is un-
doubtedly conveyed by such agencies as
the fly, the insect host or whatever 1t may
| be- Unquestionably II has tendency to dis
tribute itself over given regions. as it did
in the Lehigh Valley and is doing now in
| New York.
This being the case, II is clearly de-
sirable and possible of even going 10 the
expense OF removing children who may be
| threatened as well as those already af-
fiicted to localities where the disease has
not shown itself / understand that the
State Board of Health is making provisions
bearing on the question, such as the estab-
| lishment OF tent camps for children.
1T is self evident that II the camp or
any form of segregation is resorted TO, II
/ should be done in such a way as not to
| threaten new communities The place for
segregation should be as far as possible
from places closely inhabited, such as, for
example the slopes of the Aleghanies,
by removing children attacked on one
hand and children of community or neigh
| borhood which have not become victims of
the disease, two things are accomplished,
| one Is the danger Of climatic and atmos-
| pheric conditions in the community are not
| present. The second is that II prevents the
spread of disease by individual contact.
"one OF the things that has not only
|/CA NDY>