Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-09-23

wide-range research program to stop
the disease itself. The National Foun-
dation sparkplugs this drive.
Much progress on the research
front has been made So much so
that conservative scientists can be
lured into guess that polio may be
beaten in another quarter of a CEN
tury. For scientist, that's going out
on limb.
/ After countless experiments, scien.
lists know now that polio is virus.
not a germ. And-while it may not
seem like much progress-it's a big
step forward to know that many
drugs are useless in combating polio.
An experiment being watched
closely was launched last month at
Provo, Utah, when about $500 chill
dren were inoculated with gamma
globulln, the blood fraction which
contains all the disease fighting anti
bodies in the human body. Another
$500 children were inoculated with a
olood substitute SO the experiment.
could be controlled.
Gamma globulin has prevented
polio in monkeys. 1t prevents measles
in humans
But scientists say the Provo expert
ment may prove little because it was
launched in the middle of a polio
epidemic. One of the tremendous
dltilcultieS i'll polio experimentation
is the problem Of controlling expert
ments.
Mony Are Immune
Many persons are immune and
would not catch it anyway. The
incubation period of the polio virus
may be from three to IS days. 1t is
virtually impossible to tell if person
is harboring the virus when inocu-
lated. Furthermore, it seems evident
That some persons are carriers. It
is estimated that for every diagnosed
case, there are 100 to 1000 persons
who have the virus in their systems
without being i'll.
Furthermore, when the virus at
tackS it builds antibodies against the
disease while destroying nerve cells.
The virus normally destroys the cells
faster than it produces antibodies.
But in some persons, for a still UNI
explained reason. the antibody pro-
duction may win the race and the
'host"-the human being-escapes
the disease.
Residents of such communities as
Chestnut Ridge, Manor, Md, have
learned the hard way how unpre-
dictable polio can be.
The 500 families at Chestnut Ridge
Manor, new development off Old
Bladensburg road between Wheaton
and Four Corners, were living quiet
suburban life last month when polio
struck.
Although most polio victims are
between 5 and years of age-not
more than Is per cent are adults
one of the first Chestnut Ridge
Manor victims was an Army reserv.
ist who was tired and chilly when he
returned from summer training
camp.
A 2-year-old child and her mother
were next. Before the siege died out.
IL children and adults had become
polio victims
TIE Chestnut Ridge Manor out
break was more or less typical OF
other polio incidents in this part Of
the country. such as the one last year
at Wytheville, Va, and an earlier
series of cases in Arlington,
Dr. " L. Ellicott. Montgomery
County Health Department head.
studied the problem, but was unable
to find any environmental conditions
to blame. Oficials filled in a we'll
and tore down an abandoned privy
as a matter of routine.
Don't Stampede
Medicine doesn't attempt to explain
concerted attacks such as the one at
Chestnut Ridge Manor. But doctors
agree it is useless. possibly even
harmful, to pack up and flee-as
many did at Chestnut Ridge Manor
when polio strikes.
They point out that you can't run
away from polio" BY the time fam
lilies have been warned by outbreaks
in their neighborhood, chances are
the children or the parents may al.
ready be infected. Travel is firing,
and physicians say fatigue seems to
be an open invitation to the virus to
do its worst.
A recent study of summer camp
infected with polio showed the boys
most active before the disease set in
were the ones affected the most.
Although the body of medical
knowledge on polio seems now to be
a small spot of light in vast field of
darkness. there is hope for new prog
reSs. ..>,
The National Foundation is not the
only group fighting polio. Research
bodies throughout the world have
laboratories stated with scientists
seeking the answer to one of our most
puzzling diseases. They know almost
as much about polio as other virus
diseases which have been controlled.
But the pieces have to be fitted to-
gether.
Hope From Copenhagen
Researchers from several countries
met early this month at Copenhagen
to exchange results. They were told
two Rockefeller Institute researchers
had devised a simple test for polio.
This is great advance, since. the
only sure test now is inoculati of
Rhesus monkeys with specimens from
human suspected of having polio.
If the monkeys become paralyzed, the
polio diagnosis is confirmed. This
takes time, and money. Rhesus mon
keys don't come cheap-and, of
course, monkeys aren't humans.
The new test is something like the