The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1917-11-20
MANY CHILDREN SAVED.
Continued from Page Co.

N''In the case of the Mohl boy the
test was positive; 50 il was followed
at once by an injection Of the serum.
A. il was til" first experiment on a
human being, DIR. Rosenow began with a
dose which he later decided was too
small-threc cubic ccntimeters of the
serum. That meant six cubic cent?
meters Of the diluted mixture. The
riiild S temperature fell; but later rose
again, and second injection was
given. Following that, the temperature
dropped TO normal, and there was no
extension of the paralysis The boy
recovered and is getting along well
There are certain points which
must he explained to lay readers. In
poliomyelitis the paralysis is due 10
the destruction Of cells at the roots
Of the nerves by the invading organ
ism-thc microbe. There NAV be a
good many Of these cells supplying, for
instance, the arm. Ii they are all de-
"troyed the arm is totally paralyzed
If only some Of them are DESTROYED
the arm is partially paralvzed Ma
Just such an emergency.
When some OF these cells are de-
Stroyed nature helps those that are
left TO buck up and do their Job by
themselves. Hence the slow improve
ment which follows poliOmvelitis when
there has been only partial paraly sis
! But when cells are dcad-they are
! dead for keeps.
II
The Roscnow Serum--and any 9TH
or agency we know of-cannot rebuild
destroyed cells. What the serum does
accomplish is TO kill the invading or
ganism so that the work of destruction
IS stopped. In our experience here ii
dld this almost without exception.
Where paralysis had begun it was
stopped. When the serum was used
early in the attack, before any cells
were destroyed, there was no paralysis
at all! For instance, let me tell YOU
of the last ease We treated.
This was another 6-year-old child;
little girl named Edith Benson. I
! first saw her about ! o clock in the
afternoon. She had temperature of
loi degrees, trcmors, the bowels were
involved, and the neck was weak. Dr.
Rosenow had been called 10 a patient
out IN the country, and il was :
% clock that evening before he could
reach this little girl.
- We knew the ease was poliomve-
lltiS. But for scientific purposes he
made the necessary tests to confirm
me diagnosis. Then he gave an in
Jection Of the aerum-a larger one
than he had given in the initial cx-
pertinent, as he had learned by this
| time more about the proper dosage.
The child began to improve immcdi-
| atelv. Her temperature soon fell to
normal The other symptoms abatcd.
and within a few days she was per
fcctlv well, running around and piav-
ing rs usual. She is all right now.
And there has not been at any time
amy indication OF paralysis.
said She began to improve immc.
diately. That Is the exact truth. The
| serum is injected very slowly; at the
rate Of about . G. c. a minute. To ba
bles IS given from to If c. c Of the
diluted mixture; to children from two
70 five years OF age, from II to 20 G..
e.; and 70 older persons from - 10 40
e. g. 1niS means that, if a 5-vcar-old
| child received 20 c. C., the injection
would take 10 minutes.
| "Over and over in our experience
4 here We were aStonished to find that
even during the giving of the injection
! the patient would begin to improve
/ so prompt and so decisive was the Nc.
ton Of the serum. II is injected. bv
the way, into one OF the superficial
veins.
Now about the eases where there
was failure 10 check the disease. Tho
tIldemleS this year, not only in Daven.
port, nut IN other places as well, have
neca marked by an unusually high
death rate. Ordinarily the mortality
IN pollomyclitis is rather slow: under
/ ~ per cent. This year it has been
from 30 to 50 per cent. Some phv
s'elans have reported an even higher
rate
''One reason for the increased NOR
tally this year has been the fact tina,
the disease has been accompanicd fire.
qucntly by respiratory PARALYSIS i
patient has a paralyzed arm or leg
he can recover. Blu. if he canno
breathe, he dies. \ certain numbe
OF patients here on whom the Serum
was used had this respiratory paralv~i
I 49, '''th Al'N Ntlt NNlnW when
was given. But as the whole thin,
was experimental the serum was in
Jected in every ease that was presente,
especially as the parents would no
have forgiven us if we had failed t.
do so.
You can imagine the intense in
tereSt here in the trial of the remedy
It's power was being demonstrate,
daily in other eases, and we shoul,
have been almost mobbcd if we ha,
refused to thy ii on a patient. eve,
though we knew that patient to be be
You'd any help. So these hopeless ease
are included IN the report, although I
do 50 IS not really fair to the serum
have the figures OF DR.. Rose
now s preliminary report. They cove
torty-tour treated eases in this elf
and neighborhood. or these nine dicG
mortality Of about 20 per cent. 81
of these nine fatal eases were the hon,
less ones of which | have spoken. The