The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1916-07-14
DISEASE DISCUSSED
AT MASS MEETINGs
- szt5s:sS
Experts Say Death Rate Is. i
Lower Than Other Diseases &: ]:
Many Recoveries.

NEW YORK, July 13.-Leaders Ia;
the medical profession. public health
experts from any cities, philanthro.:
pists and charity workers thronged3
the rooms of the academy Of medicine;
here tonight to attend mass meeting
for the discussion OF infantile patalyss
sis-the plague which has brought
death into hundreds Of homes here I'M
the past few weeks.
Those who hoped that cure for tho;
disease would be heralded or that iBoss
lation of its deadly germ would be, an,
'nounced, were disappointed. DR.. Simon
Flexner, of the Rockefeller Institute
for medical research and other ex:;
perls told Of the progress made by
medical science in combating the dis.s
ease, but they had no epoch marking
discoveries to proclaim. Is
DR.. FIexner, who has devoted his
own skill and the resources or Z >thss
Rockefeller Institute to the battle;
against the disease. declared, howeyers;
that there Is no occasion for pan1GS
He asserted that the death rate from
infantile paralysis is lower even than
from other maladies considered 1AEl
less serious He had message Of;
cheer for anxious parents In the cll::
nouncement that In a.large percentages
of cases there are complete recover:
les.
Artificial respiration was suggested
by DR.. Louis G Ager. as one method;
Of treatment. He said 1t was possiDlef
that it might be accomplished In tnass
way. 80;
Dir. Haven Emerson. health commits
sioner of this city, told what Is being
done to fight the epidemic and assert
III La 0or yHyh ~ -.
ents feel is not justified. He said
that out of 1900 suspected cases, :in.s
vestigated only 1,G40 true cases Of I'M;
fantile paralysis had been found, Of:
which eos resulted fatally. n;
Not Uncertain or Fatal.
That infantile paralysis Is neither:
so uncertain in origin nor so fatal
or. permanent in effect as generally
supposed, was the assertion made by;
DR.. Simon Flexner, Of the Rockefeller
Institute, in a paper read at mAs1s
meeting OF physicians here tonight.
While the death rate has varied from
five to 90 per cent, this figure 10 not
accurate, as only small NUMBER OF:
cases are actually reported. Dr.. Flex-;
ner said &:$>::s
Many of those most seriously afflicted
eventually make complete recover1es.$
The origin of the disease is In the;
secretian Of the nose. throat and tn-s
testines. The chief conveyor is the
human being himself, DR.. Flexner said.
whether consciously afflicted or not:
Flies are known to have carried the
infection in some cases, and poultrys$
pigs, dogs, and cats are suspected.
The. chief means Of dissemination arc,
kissing and sneezing and coughinEyS
which throw the virus into the NtmqDe,
phere where 1t is carried dify
the mucuous membranes Of the
and throat and thence to he
cord and brain. 9
Very many cases also havesDesn
transmitted by mothers caring for t.
noses and throats of their childre
and then carrying the virus either to-
the other children or to their food,
the expert declared. s
To Gain Protection.
Protection can best be gained
through the isolation Of the disease:
even in the earliest stages, and the
CONTINUED on PaFe Ten-)