Salt Lake Telegram | 1943-09-24 | Page 8 | Mysterious Poliomyelitis

Mysterious t Poliomyelitis WE VE iE LEARNED some very interesting things about this mysterious disease called poliomyelitis from Dr Robert L. L Bennett Bennett Bennett Ben Ben- nett director of or physical medicine for the National Infantile Paralysis Paralysis' foundation at Warm Springs Ga We thought you might be interested in them too First of at all it Is a mysterious disease Medical men know very little about it The virus irus which causes the disease is so small it it cannot be seen en even with the most powerful microscope Except from symptoms it is im- im J lc to ta establish that a person has the disease dis din ease case in less than three months Therefore it cannot be definitely diagnosed in its early stages Poliomyelitis is not a new disease although al although although al- al though only in comparatively recent years has it become serious It W was s originally called infantile paralysis because it at first appeared to attack only very small children Now it has developed into a disease which has no particular age brackets and although it does strike younger people more commonly may attack those of middle age as well Apparently the poliomyelitis virus is quite widespread and may be present In as many as 50 per cent of the people in an epidemic area without causing illness to more than a handful hand hand- ful Medical men do not know why it strikes one person and not another That's just one pf pC its mysteries The initial symptoms of the disease are like Uke those of many other diseases or even the common cold upset cold upset stomach fever headache etc There is no way of telling tell tell- ing at that stage if K it is polio or not and the chances of its being polio are only about one in There are different degrees of intensity atthe of at the disease Dr Bennett was not sure Bure but he said it may be that climatic conditions or al altitude altitude at al- affect the severity of at an epidemic The current epidemic in Utah is a mild mUd form with witha a relatively low death rate rate and and Dr Bennett thinks It is possible that because of certain unknown conditions only the mild form can b be experienced in Utah The disease is actually not half as bad as people picture it Out of cases in Utah so far there have been only 14 deaths and the new Kenny treatment is proving quite successful in eliminating the crippling aftereffects aftereffects aftereffects after after- effects in those who recover It is apparently the mysterious nature of poliomyelitis which makes the public panicky a panicky a sort of fear Cear of the dark the unknown Therefore it is important important important tant in an epidemic area to combat foolish hysteria as well as to combat the disease it it- it self