Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-07-11
Health Officers Admit.
Confusion on Number
OF Polio Cases in Area

The District Health Department
today was unable to give definite
figure on the total cases Of infantile
paralysis in the District this year.
1t did disclose, however, that there
were more cases than last year, but
said there is no danger of an cpl
demic. BY tomorrow the department
hopes to settle the confusion over
the number of cases.
A new case reported today in
Maryland brought the Health De-
partmentS official count TO II for
the District area. For the District
proper, the number, reported to the
Health Department, is eight.
However, on the basis of reports
obtained by The Star from Gallinger
and Childrens Hospitals today, the
total is 10. There are patients at
Children's Hospital and 4 at Gal
linger.
Rutland Demands Reports.
DR.. George Rutland, District
health officer, today wrote all hos
pitfalls demanding immediate reports
of all cases to the Health Depart
ment. Either the hospitals failed to
report two cases, or two of the cases
reported to the newspapers were in
correct diagnoses, and the informa-
ton was not corrected to show this
he said
Regardless of whether the num-
Der is 8 or lott still is more than
the four cases hospitaliZed at this
time last year. Health officials in
sisted they did not anticipate a re-
currence of last years epidemic
which killed 16 persons and hos
pitalized more than 300 in this area
They also declared they did net
contemplate invoking the bans
which were used last year to pre-
vent spread of the disease, Last
year, doctors requested parents to
keep children away from public
meetings. and not to send them to
the hospital for routine operations,
such as tonsilectomies, except when
absolutely necessary.
Doctors Impose Ban Voluntarily.
Some doctors however are post
poning routine operations on chill
dren despite the lack of an official
ban, it was reported to The Star
today by parents.
Today's new case was that of a
21-year-old theological student, ad-
mitted to Washington Sanitarium
May 5, but not disclosed until yes
terday. The patient is improving
slowly, and has been in an iron
lung, since his arrival at the hos
pital, officials there said.
Rumors that prostigmine, drug
used experimentally at Children's
Hospital this year, might be brought
in for use in more polio cases could
not be subStantiated. DR.. Richard
Todd, medical director of Children
Hospital, said the drug had beer
used there in about Is per cent o.
the cases, and had been found to re.
lieve the muscular Spasms which are
one phase of the disease. 1t doe!
not effect a cure, however, he said
No National Epidemic.
The situation in the Nation, de
spite larger number of polio case
reported this year over last year, i
not indicative of another epidemic
Public Health Service officials salt
today. Reported through June 3
are 1,270 cases, as against 1902 case
at this time last year. However
, the last two weeks in June showe'
smaller number of cases thai
|, these weeks in 1914, and officials sail
it still was too soon to say whethe
there would or would not be an cpl
!, demic.
The disease always shows ris
in cases at this time of the year
officials said. Reports should be OBJ
tainable this afternoon on the ma
tional total of polio cases reporte'
last week-and this return will b
more indicative of the disease
trend, officials said.
If there is an epidemic anywhere
it is most likely to occur in Texa:
where the number of cases so ia
ovooadS ,,orp,ol 0fSniolc coid