An Institutional Outbreak of Poliomyelitis

Abstract

An outbreak of poliomyelitis occurred in Apr., 1941, in a child-caring institution of a large city which apparently was an isolated outbreak. It showed a high paralytic incidence of 84% and the stools of 2 of 3 cases were positive for the virus when the symptoms were sufficiently atypical as to have rendered the diagnosis doubtful. The use of stool examination as an epidemiological tool is strongly advocated.