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all cases. In the very aged, infection with the virus proved more
serious and it will be seen from the statistics that Inflenza or complications
of the disease caused ten deaths.
All arrangements possible were made to deal with any subsequent
waves of infection, which in previous outbreaks had been of a more
serious clinical nature, but fortunately these secondary waves did not
materialise and the end of the year left us confidently hoping that the
population of the town had secured a substantial immunity to the
Asian virus.
3. POLIOMYELITIS. The incidence of this infection has not
been very great in Wembley expressed numerically, but a startling
feature has been the attack rates in older persons. Of the total
number of fifteen notifications of the paralytic form of the disease,
no less than ten have been patients over the age of twenty-four years,
representing a figure of sixty-six per cent. of the total notifications.
This is rather an unusual age incidence.
Another startling feature has been the months of the year in
which the cases have been notified. Contrary to the normally expected
occurrence of the disease in the summer months, seven of our cases
have been notified during the part of the year when it is not usually
prevalent.
In addition to these unusual features the severity of the infection
has been conspicuous. Of the fifteen cases notified, no fewer than
three cases were rapidly fatal, and of those who managed to survive
the initial viraemia eight suffered from severe paralysis necessitating
very long treatment in hospital. Arrangements are made for the
serious cases to be admitted immediately to the infectious diseases
hospital and after the acute phase of the disease is past, transfer to
an orthopaedic hospital, if required, is automatically arranged.
Some disquiet was occasioned in one small outbreak where, on
account of heavy notification of the non-paralytic form of the disease,
in neighbouring districts the hospitals were unable to accept without
further investigation all non-paralytic cases notified. The particular
case involved was a child notified as non-paralytic Poliomyelitis,
resident in a part of the Borough where considerable anxiety had
arisen as a consequence of the disease. When it became known that
the child was notified as a Poliomyelitis and had not been removed
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