Evening star., 1950-09-29
Adults Are Chief Victims
In New Type of Polio
Non-FotoI Molody Reported
By Rockefeller Scientists
By Thomos R. Henry

Dy NOCkSIeIIef SSISHtiStS
BY Thomos R. Henry
A new kind Of polio suddenly has ap-
peared in the world.
It has been diagnosed. at least. as q
form Of the dreaded paralyzing virus NAL
ady. for five years, but it now appears
that 1t may be something quite differ
ent. according to the report of the Rookie
feller Foundation whose scientists are
studying the disease. Fo&
This false polio is non-fatal malady,
usually characterized by severe pain in
the neck and back. fever, sweating, pros
tration, some degree Of paralysis and
increased cell count in the spinal fluid.
There is long period of convalescence
frequently associated with extreme ner.
vousness and sometimes by mental up
sets. g.
Unlike polio, adults are attacked more
frequently than children and the highest
rate is in late fall and winter instead Of
late summer and fall. Evidence indicates
person.
Still Confined to Iceland.
The disease still remains confined to
Iceland, but there is little likelihood that
1t will stay there. Polio has been recog.
nized in that island since 1904. The
picture remained about the same as that
the world over until 1945. Then came the
seasonal change in the incidence and the
age Of the victims began to shift upwards.
Both 1945 and 1916 were epidemic years.
(There seldom are two polio years in
succession) Then there was lapse until
the fall Of 1948 when there occurred the
worst outbreak to date. In some districts,
the sickness rate reached as high as
per cent Of the total population.
There is some similarity, Rockefeller
Foundation scientists say, to group Of
diseases known in the United States for
the past four years. These are due to
the so-called Cohaxie viruses, named
from the New York district where they
first were found. These rnaladies differ
somewhat in various localities but none
Of them approaches the new Iceland dis
ease in virulence. seq
Blood spec:zncns from last winters
epidemic have been sent to the United
States for study. Thus far, nothing posi-
tive has been found. Preparations now
are under way to move rapidly, II an
epidemic starts this winter. It may be
due next month.
Insidious, slow-acting poisons may be
hidden in the foods man has eaten with
apparent impunity for countless genera.
tions.
Such poisons can be detected only by
slow, expensive tests covering the whole
lifetime Of experimental animals
This is the contention of DR.. Theodore
Koppanyi. professor Of pharmacology at
Georgetown University Medical School.
At present only the quick acting poi
sons In foods are recognized, he says.
Long experience, for example, has taught
man to avoid eating various varieties Of
mushrooms. appetizing enough to eye and
taste, because their poisonous action is
so immediate and powerful that the
source cannot be mistaken.
1t well may be, DR.. Koppanyi says,
that slower acting poisons are responsible
for such long delayed maladies as high
blood pressure and cancer. This could
be determined only by the very laborious
process Of feeding for long periods !" He
proposes, for example. that rats should
be kept on an experimental diet through
their entire life span Of about two years
and dogs for at least rs months.
Would Test New Products.
Obviously. said DR.. Koppanyi in re-
port prepared for special House Com
mittee on chemical adulterants Of food,
1t would be Impractical to test In this way
all the thousands Of materials used for
human food the world over. But, he
insisted, every time q new material Ia
used in processing foods, it should be
given this extremely rigid test before the
product is allowed on the market. Such
feeding Of rats during their lifespan, for
example, might show up the effects to
be expected in humans after 80 to 40
years.
One recent test Of this sort, he re-
ported. required two years and the CO.
operation of eight scientists. The con-
clusion was that the material being tested
was harmless. and this probably would be
the case generally. But, he maintains,
the few exceptions would pay for the
tests in a big way.