Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1948-06-18

Infantile paralysis, or polio
myelitis as it is called in more
technical circles, is minor dis
ease of no particular consequence
to the majority of the people
who have it. Most public health
people believe the average case
of poliomyelitis is not much
worse than a common cold,
probably not as severe. 1t may
show a small amount Of head
ache, a little stiffness of the
neck or back, an occasional fleet
ing pain in an arm or leg, and
clears up with no evidence of
permanent damage after a period
of three or four days or possibly
a week. Probably net more than
one person in every hundred
who becomes infected and cer-
tainly not more than one person
in every 10 develops the severe
headache, the rigid back, the
damaged nerves and paralyzed
muscles that most people look
upon as infantile paralysis. In
fact, it is extremely difficult for
the most skilled physician to
make an accurate diagnosis in
what is called non-paralytic po-
liomyelitis or, in other words,
infantile paralysis without the
paralysis. This peculiar charac.
teristic of the disease is what
makes the control of epidemics
so difficult. For every case that
can be accurately diagnosed,
there may be as many as a hun
dred cases capable of spreading
the infection to others who are
not sick enough to know that
anything is wrong with them.
Evidence for the widespread dis
tribution of infection with this
virus is shown by the fact that
9/10 of our adult population
carry in their bloodstreams sub
stances that indicate that they
at some time in their lives met
this virus, yet few adults ever
recall havinghad infantile paral-
ysis.
You will recall from our earli-
er discussion of how diseases
spread that the virus or bacteria
causing a disease must be able
to leave the patient who has it,
must be transmitted somehow or
other from that patient to sus-
ceptible person, must find a suit
able way of entering that suscep-
tible person, and that person
must be capable of being made
sick by the virus, before we can
complete this cycle of disease
spread. In the case of infantile
paralysis we know the disease
is caused by virus. 1t has been
isolated, monkeys have been
made sick by it; 1t has been tran
sferred from monkey to monkey,
but so far these researches have
little evidence on how the virus
enters susceptible humans. For
long time 1t was believed the
virus left the patient In his nose
and throat secretions and was
transmitted to a susceptible per-
son by droplet infection very
much like the common cold, in
fluenza, measles, diphtheria, and
number of other respiratory
diseases. This has been question.
ed by some people who have
found live polimyelitis virus in
sewage, and for while 1t was
believed that poliomyelitis might
be transmitted through bowel
discharges, finding its way to
another persons digestive tract
in the way that typhoid fever,
dysentry and cholera are trans
mitted. Transmission by water
and by flies have been seriously
considered. Until these details
are definitely cleared up by pub
lie health research, it is practical
to look with some respect on
both modes of transmission. To
get around technicl details, let us
say that polio is spread thru
association or close contact bet
ween people, particularly chill
dren who are breathing in the
droplets discharged from the
noses and throats of their asso-
ciates and who are constantly
putting their hands in their
mouths and other things that
other people have handled. Po-
liomyelitis goes wherever man
goes, and is found only where
man is found, so he probably is
the one constant factor in its
spread.
Furthermore, we are not
sure of the incubation period
of this disease, the time that
elapses from the actual re-
ceipt of the virus to the devel-
Opment of symptoms, nor do
we know just where In the de-
velopment Of the disease a
person developes the ability
to pass It on to someone else.
With a disease which usually
produces very few symptoms
and no marked disability you
can see what a difficult prob
lem 1t is to stop It's spread. II
is very much like trying to
stop measles, which is another
virus disease, II the measles
had no rash and we had to de-
pend for our diagnosis on the
heart damage and the ear in
facfi0us that IL causes