Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1949-08-12

know the relative Importance
O. lilo as a killer and Grip
pier of children and young
adults and some of the basic
facts about the disease you will
fear it less.
Everyone recognizes that the
vast majority of the mild cases
are not diagnosed because the
symptoms are so mild and OF
such short duration that most of
us are apt to say the boy was
off his feed for a couple of days
but not really sick. Many OF us
believe that the polio virus like
the measules virus is highly IN
fectious and that practically all
of us at one time or another har-
be-. the virus, but that only a
very few of us have the bad tor-
tune to have the virus invade
the tissues of the brain or spinal
cord and thus develop symptoms
that are recognizable as polio.
If the disease caused a rash
as measules does, we all would
recognize how common 1t is.
Better yet, if all persons infect
ed would turn purple for few
days, l am sure that it would be
recognized that this disease is
so common that it would be very
difficult to interest an yof you
in it a any time except when a
member of your immediate fam
ily was acutely i'll. You would
have the same interest in polio
ss you now have in many OF the
op.er virus diseases of childhood
like measles and chickenpox.
Actually of the few cases that
are severe enough to be recog-
nized and diagnosed as polio
myeletis, 40 to so per cent Will
recover completely, or almost
completely, without any visible
evidence of paralysis. Another
Is to 30 per cent will have only
a milr degree of paralysis, 5O to
Is per cent will have sufflsient
paralysis to be more or less
severely handicapped and few
will die.
In addition much can be done
for those who have residual
paralysis after recovery from the
..cute stage of the disease. Phys
ical therapy in the last few years
has been able to accomplish
much in the re-education and
restoration of muscles damaged
by this or other diseases. Many
persons with what appeared to
be severe paralysis have made a
remarkable recovery of muscle
function through modern physi-
cal therapy. The District Nurse,
a member of a Red Feather
Service can be very helpful In
caring for convalescent polio
patients.
The mystery about polio deep
ems when we try to discover how
The virus is spread from one per-
on to another. There is evidence
that it is spread by close, init
mate contact. 1t may be taken in
ones food. 1t may enter from
yirus-contaminated dishes or
hands. 1t may float in the dust in
the air. Another possibility is
that it may enter through the
unbroken skin. The virus can be
found in the intestinal tracts of
healthy, normal persons who
have no signs of sickness. For
every person who becomes i'll,
hundreds may harbor the virus
without any effects. They may
even help spread the disease to
others. Why some of us are re-
sistant and others susceptible is
one of the mysteries of how and
why polio spreads.
Another big question is when
the disease is spread, why 1t
z blazes up in the summer months.
It's true, we have cases of polio
occurring every month of the
year. But with the warm months,
the number often rises sharply.
The polio virus is tough, 1t can
survive at least six months in
the freezing cold of a refrigerat-
or. The way epidemics come in
summertime shows there must
be something favorable to the
spread of the virus at that time.
All kinds of theories as to how
it is spread are being exhaustive
ly investigated insects, food,
water, ct cetera. The blue-and-
green-bottle flies have been
found carrying the virus. But
there's no conclusive evidence
that flies spread the disease to-
humans. In sewage, the virus is
found. But again, there is mo-
proof that the disease is spread
= from polluted water.
The simple truth?-we don't
know how polio is spread. We do
not know who is immune to the