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In reviewing the occurrence of the disease in the borough in these
three years, no major significant fact has come to light in the epidemiology
of the disease nor information with regard to assistance in the prevention
other than the precautions taken in past years.
In the 1949 epidemic, the following case relationships, however,
came to light:—
M.S. (female aged 4½) was taken ill on 12.6.49 with fever, headache,
stiffness of the neck and aching limbs. During convalescence there
was difficulty in walking. This illness was not notified.
C.B. (female aged 6f) a contact of M.S. was taken ill on 19.6.49
with fever, was in bed for 4 days and made an uninterrupted recovery.
C.D. (female aged 4¾) a contact of M.S. and staying in the same
house as C.B. was taken ill 19.6.49 and notified as a case of poliomyelitis
and confirmed as such.
I.G. and M.G. (males aged 6 2/12 and 10½) contacts of C.B. did not
have any illness as far as is known.
R.L. (female aged 4 10/12) living next door to M.S. and a contact
of her but not so far as is known of the others, was taken ill 11.7.49
and diagnosed as a case of poliomyelitis and confirmed.
N.T (male aged 18 years) living next door to C.B. was taken ill and
diagnosed as suffering from poliomyelitis on 9.7.49. He died 11.7.49.
The elder brother of N.T. had a short illness a little while after
N.T. died. P.T. younger brother of N.T. experienced no illness.
About this time P.T. was in contact with P.W. (male aged 4 4/12)
who fell ill and was diagnosed and confirmed as a case of poliomyelitis
on Sunday, July 17th. On the previous Friday he had undertaken
considerable physical exercise at school but he did not develop
paralysis. By comparison a boy S.S. aged 7 in the same class as
P.W. was notified and confirmed as a poliomyelitis case on the same
day and he did have paralysis especially in the legs.
It is difficult to build a hypothesis round these cases since it is not
known whether the illness experienced by M.S. was an abortive case of
poliomyelitis, though probable. Further it was not known whether M.S.
was specifically exposed to infection; but the train of events occurring
after 12.6.49 is not without interest. Emphasis is placed on the need for
notification during an epidemic of all suspected cases, particularly where
illness occurs in close contacts.
In an intensive study of the epidemiology of poliomyelitis in Auckland,
New Zealand (1948), Dr. Thompson found that there was a tendency
for the onset of the illness in related cases to be grouped around the
fifth and eighteenth days though the range was from 1 to 110 days.
With regard to the spread of infection, Dr. Thompson feels that lax
personal hygiene plays an important role. It is thought that the organism
causing poliomyelitis may have a poor capacity for passing from person
to person rather than a wide variation in its incubation period. There
is much controversy concerning the epidemiology of this disease but
within the limits of our present knowledge it would not be unreasonable
to postulate that in the series of related cases instanced here that M.S.
could well be the originator of the train of events occurring from 12.6.49
to 17.7.49.
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