Evening star., 1953-10-08
Mysterious Illness
Again Hits Nurses al
Rockville Sanitariunl

The same strange sickness
that created a polio scare in
Rockville this summer has been
cropping up again in the same
place-CheStnut Lodge SAM
tarium.
Since July total of 80 cases
has developed. and doctors still
don't know what it is.
This was revealed jointly
today by officials of the Micro
biological Institute of Health.
the Montgomery County Health
Department and the sanitarium.
Their statement showed:
The first 13 cases in July were
thought to be polio and were
reported as such to the Mont
gon1ery County Health Depart
ment. When all patients began
to recover quickly with no signs
of paralysis, the diagnosis of
polio was doubted.
Polio Not Ruled Out.
It has remained in doubt ever
since, despite lengthy laboratory
tests at the ARCHAEOLOGICAL In
stitute of the National Institutes
of Health. The tests are still
going on. AS yet, according to
DR.. Victor Haas, head of the
institute, no evidence of polio
has been found-or evidence of
any known illness. But, on the
other hand. polio has not been
ruled out.
After the first 13 cases oc-
CURED, there were 6 more the
same month. 4 in August and
z in September. The last case
occurred last Wednesday.
Six of the most recent cases
have been in a group of 81 STU
dent nurses who arrived at the
sanitarium August 81 to begin
13 weeks of training. The sick
ness hit them about three weeks
later
-Four student nurses have been
admitted to the Clinical Center
in Bethesda to enable scientists
to get a first-hand study of the
battling sickness.
Like Polio at First.
The nurses, as well as other
members of the sanitarium staff,
showed signs of polio in the first
stages of the illness. These signs,
however, quickly vanished. Only
q few have slight muscular
weakness in their fingers. Out
side of those nurses at the Clini-
cal Center, the rest have recov-
cred and have gone back to work
or returned home.
DR.. V. L. Ellicott, Montgomery
County health officer, said he is
not alarmed over the recent out
breaks. He said he would have
been alarmed had paralysis de-
veloped in the cases.
Montgomery County is still
carrying the 13 cases first re-
ported as polio on its polio count
for the year. DR.. Ellicott said
he is waiting for some proof of
what the illness is before he
strikes off the 13 or adds the new
cases.
DR.. Marvin Adland, clinical di-
rector of the Sanitarium, said
that at no time in the last three
months has any illness of this
nature occurred among the sani-
tarium's patients.
Outbreak in Los Angeles.
DR.. Haas told reporters at
conference yesterday that a
somewhat similar outbreak was
reported in 1886 in Los Angeles
hospital. Up to this time, he
said, there has been no real
knowledge as to what caused it.
He added there are outbreaks
throughout the country which re-
Semble the one at Chestnut
Lodge and in which the cause is
never properly identified"
Of the 80 cases, 10 have been
student nurses, all of whom live
at the sanitarium. Five were
graduate nurses who live outside.
Most of the student nurses
taken sick since in July and Au-
gust came from North Carolina
and Tennessee. the others from
Virginia, West Virginia and Can
ada. The most recent outbreak
hit nurses from Tennessee and
Virginia.