Spread of Poliomyelitis Infection in Nursery Schools

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Abstract
An outbreak of poliomyelitis occurring in New York City in midwinter and involving 3 nursery schools is discussed. The outbreak was investigated by personal interviews with all families of children in school and their close contacts, by examination of stool samples for presence of poliomyelitis virus, and by serologic tests for presence of both complement-fixing and neutralizing antibodies. In the first two schools investigated 60% of the children were found to be infected with Type I poliomyelitis virus, as revealed by virus isolation or possession of CF antibodies, or both. Families of infected children gave higher rates of infection, indicating that close contact in the home was more favorable for spread of virus than the more limited contact in the school. All siblings of infected children became infected. Of parents who were not protected by presence of Type I neutralizing antibodies, 93% became infected, confirming the high invasiveness of the virus usually noted in such family groups. Investigation of a 3d school in which a known carrier of the virus was found, failed to reveal any spread of the virus, indicating that the usual high invasiveness of the virus may be modified under some circumstances.