The sun., 1916-08-18
Quarantine aysteris.


Since the beginning Of the present
epidemic The SuN has shown that
the methods Of protection adopted by
many communities and dictated by
the instinct Of self.preservation have
led to q cruel persecution Of neighbor
and friend, reproducing in effect the
shotgun quarantine Of the
fever sections before science
dispelled fears conjured up by igno-
rance Of the cause Of that disease.
To-day we are In the presence OF
analogous conditions. Our ignorance
Of the cause Of a malady has induced
a state Of mind. even among some
ordinarily self.possessel and lntelli.
gent people, in consequence Of which
methods Of quarantine are sanctioned
that are not warranted by we'll ascer.
tained facts.
What are the proofs Of contagious.
Of infantile paralysis? There
are none: only c~onjectural theories.
On the contrary. the non-contagious.
Of the disease Is established by
historical data, as we shall show. We
had intended to tabulate the 5000
cases reported by the Health Depart.
ment In order to verify an opinion
that the disease Is rarely conveyed
from the sick to the well, even In the
same household or dwelling, ms Is the
case Invariably with truly contagious
diseases like measles. scarlet fever
and smallpox. The tabulntion was
suspended. however. when 1t was on.
cially announced on August 13 that
"the number Of cases In which a child
contracts the disease after another
member Of the family has been taken
III Is decidedly small" md that these
are Comparatively rare cases."
Here we have almost positive dem.
%onstration Of non-contagion, since a
few cases Of any disease may arise
In the same locality ut any time.
Moreover, this finding Of the health
confirms the statement OF
Surgeon WADE II. FRosr, who has
given us the most complete summary
Of what Is known Of the cause and
transmission Of the disease in the
report Of the United States Public
Health Service for July IA:
"The statistics show that Of 1910
persons exposed to pol!omyelitis by resi-
dence In the same houses and the same
families a. the poliomyelitis patients
only fourteen developed the disease In
its frank form. Even assuming tina,
all Of these actually contracted the In
fcction from association with the sick
members Of families. the contagiousness
Of poliomyelitis must still be very slight,
less than one-nfteenth of scarlet fever.
similar evidence Of the slight con-
tas%iousness Of poliomyelitis has been az
forded among the large groups Of chill
dren exposed to contagion by associa-
ton. in schools and institutions, with
acute cases.
ION the whole. II may fairly den.
nitely be concluded that II poliomyelitis
Is a contagious disease. confined to hu.
man beings. as certainly seems most
probable at this time. the chief source
OF Infection must be. more probably. ap.
parently healthy carriers"
DR.. ]. c. PRICE. Health Director of
New Jersey, says:
adults "a become carriers by con.
tact with other adults who are car.
riers. and thus obtain the infection they
may carry home to their children.
Tho most important thing in pre-
venting tho spread Of the disease by
carriers is to avoid crowds.
This rule should apply to adults as
we'll a. to children"
The latter testifes to the hysterIa
OF the present quarantine. A gentle
passing from n borough Of New
Jersey to another last Sunday four
times within two hours was stopped
each time to permit the officer to peer
into the a for hidden children,
while the six persons occupying II
were disregarded as probable carriers
II the rule Of the New Jersey DE,
partment Of Health we're rigldly en-,
forced. Its quarantine would raise
such a storm Of protest that 1t would
soon be abolished. And 80 with such
rules everywhere, especially II the i'm,
possibility Of properly examining MI
children applying for certificates were
also considered.
The chief proof Of the communI
cability Of infnntile paralysis is al
legged to be that 1t follows routes Of
travel. Since the latter are the chic,
places where people do c~ongregate, Il
cannot he otherwise. Opposed to thi.
entirely prOblemntic dissemination |,
the absolutely established fact tina
"epidemics of poliomyelitis are Otter
II not usually Of irregular occurrence
not showing the distribution whicl
would he expected as the result O.
dissemination along the main high
ways of traffic (FROsT). This il ,
fact demonstrated by examples from
tho puidpmics M 1OO7 1OOo ,OoO