Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1944-10-08
Every Child Stricken With Polio
Is a Special Case at Children's
BY Marion Wade Doyle.

BY Marion Wade Doyle.
The tow-headed boy leaned his bicycle
against the back steps and went inse
the kitchen.
Mother" he said. 1.-THE back Of my
neck hurts"
His mother put him to bed. He had
temperature, complained Of headache
and nausea as well as the neck pains
She called doctor. The doctor got an
ambulance and took the boy to Chill
dren's Hospital Tests were made on
the spinal fluid.
"Poliomyelitis, said the doctor
Doctor" replied the mother. what
are you going to do?'
With some such incident as this, more
than $40 children in Metropolitan
Washington and about 80 adults have
contracted polio since July /. Seven OF
the children and six of the adults have
died. One hundred of the children are
still being treated in the wards at Chill
dren's. Forty-five more are being treated
at Gallinger Hospital.
The others have been discharged, but
are still under treatment at home. They
either have private doctor or pay
frequent visits to clinics at Children's
and Gallinger for advice on treatment,
free if necessary.
What kind of treatment? What did
the doctor do for the tow-headed boy?
Several Methods of Treatment.
If the parents had employed the
doctor to care for their boy, the treat
ment was solely at his discretion. He
prescribed remedies. The hospital car
ried them out. If the parents knew no
private doctor they could afford to pay,
the staff of Children's prescribed the
treatment and the District Chapter of
the National Foundation for Infantile
Paralysis paid some or all of the bill.
The chapter has already paid nearly
$500 for disqualification at Children's.
The bill for those of the 100 patients
still being cared for by the Childrens
staff has not yet been presented in its
entirety.
The private doctor had several
methods of treatment at his disposal
He could prescribe complete rest, per-
haps enforced by splints. This is a
method popularity associated with "con-
servative" treatment of polio.
For Special Gases.
He could prescribe an anti-spasmodic
drug Prostigmine, to attempt to relieve
"spasm,' an involuntary muscular con-
traction that may exist. If no spasm or
paralysis has set in-the hospital staff
estimates that about 10 per cent of this
summers cases will be mon paralytic"-
the doctor might prescribe treatment
only of light diet and rest.
If the patients speech and swallowing
have been severely effected-known as
bulbar poliomyentes- doctor might
prescribe irradiation of the blood. This
comparatively new method involves
drawing out the patients blood, bathing
it in ultra violet ray to kill virus and
give more oxygen, and injecting it back
into his body.
If paralysis of respiratory system or
some other part of the body interfered
with breathing, the doctor could have
the patient placed in a respirator dron
lung).
Hot Pack Treatment.
He could prescribe hot packs-wet
wool covered with oil skin and then
bound in dry wool-to be applied several
times day to affected parts of the body
The hot packs are generally associated
with Sister Kennys method of treat
ment. Many doctors who do not sub
scribe to other phases of her treatment
have adopted that part of 1t.
II the doctor wished to follow all of
the Australian nurses precepts, he
would under no conditions prescribe a
respirator, splints or Prostigmine. He
would trust to hot packs and to physio-
therapy given by'a trained Kenny tech
nician Immediately.
Private Doctors Make Choice
Parents who employ private doctor
subscribe to the traditional relationship
between patient and private doctor.
From the point of view of the hospital
staff, the method of treatment is up to
him. Whether the parents have any part
in helping decide the treatment. or
whether they trust entirely to his judg-
ment, is an individual matter decided
between each family and its doctor.
Five.man Polio Committee.
The patient placed under the general
supervision of the staff at Childrens,
however, is not necessarily handled by
one doctor. Knowing that many points
of view exist on the treatment for polio,
the hospital has appointed five-man
Polio Committee which represents all
the points of view There is noted
orthopedic surgeon, DR.. Frank Hand,
who has charge of the Kiwanis Clubs