View report page

Twenty-seven of these cases recovered; the majority completely.
The only death associated with the disease was in the
case of a child, aged 3, who was admitted to hospital suffering
from acute Polioencephalitis and who died shortly after admission.
The cases were seen in the acute stage by the Orthopaedic
Surgeon and after the acute stage had subsided, those needing
further treatment were transferred to the Royal National Orthopaedic
Hospital, Stanmore, thus ensuring continuity of orthopaedic
treatment from the earliest possible stage.
This outbreak points a lesson to any person becoming complacent
in his outlook towards infectious disease. The prevention
of infectious disease depends on a complete understanding of the
nature of the infection and its mode of transmission—once this is
arrived at, the rest is merely a matter of careful attention to the
details of a set routine. In the case of infantile paralysis, however,
the essential knowledge is still lacking and it is necessary
to work to a considerable extent in the dark—measures are applied
which are known to be effective in other conditions, and it is hoped
one or other of these will work. In these circumstances, therefore,
any tendency towards complacency is to be deprecated.