A Monograph on the Epidemic of Poliomyelitis (Infantile Paralysis) in New York City in 1916; Based on the Official Reports of the Bureaus of the Department of Health (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1917 Excerpt: ...as insects of any kind are concerned, it seems impossible to understand the peculiar distribution of poliomyelitis in this district on the basis of their comparative abundance. It is true that the stable fly is especially abundant along the water front on account of the large amount of trucking which goes on there, but it is not noticeable that the disease has spread along the streets which are most generally used for teams. The disease should follow these streets if the stable fly were concerned, as this insect migrates most abundantly along thoroughfares through which many horses pass regularly. That it has not followed these streets would therefore seem to be significant, especially in view of its greater prevalence along the northern strip of'this district where there is no more traffic than in the other portions further south. One fact which seems perfectly clear is, that under urban conditions of this type where large numbers of persons are crowded in congested dwellings, there is no tendency toward a rise in the incidence of poliomyelitis. This is abundantly shown by the details which have been cited in the preceding pages, and offers poor support to the view that these cases have been contracted as a result of contact with children suffering from the disease, or as a result of contact with healthy carriers of the poliomyelitis virus. Lower West Side--Considerable interest attaches to a small group of cases on and about Greenwich Street just north of Battery Park. Only about a dozen of cases have appeared here, the first during the last week in July, and the others in irregular sequence during August into September. This focus has remained entirely isolated from any others, although it is not separated from them by a space devoid of dwelling houses. ...