The 1916 New York City Epidemic of Poliomyelitis: Where did the Virus Come From?

Abstract

Previous accounts of the 1916 devastating epidemic have been faulty. The unique features of the epidemic and its sudden appearance have never been explained. A New York laboratory was passaging poliovirus in primate brains, a technique which increased pathogenicity. I propose that highly virulent virus escaped and caused the epidemic. Scientists, technical and animal house staff were unaware that they could be infected by poliovirus which could then infect others. All laboratory workers must be constantly reminded of the dangers which can arise from the escape of pathogens from their work.

Los Orígenes De La Rehabilitación: Entre La Guerra Y La Polio

“…Se cree que la epidemia contabilizó más de 5.000 muertes a través de Nueva Inglaterra alcanzando Delaware, Maryland y el Distrito de Columbia con casos en Vermont y Canadá. Dicha epidemia alcanzó la tasa de fatalidad más alta jamás registrada en un brote de polio (Wyatt, 2011) y al mismo tiempo, entre niños de dos y tres años la tasa de parálisis alcanzó el 2%, la más alta registrada para este grupo etario en cualquier otra parte del mundo (Wyatt, 1975).…”

Before the Vaccines: Medical Treatments of Acute Paralysis in the 1916 New York Epidemic of Poliomyelitis

“…Intramuscular injections (IM), exercise and child-birth in the 24-48 hours before paralysis occurs, result in more severe paralysis of the regions concerned and are called aggravation [ 19 ]. The enhancement of paralysis 12 to 48 hours after LP [ 2 ] suggests that because the virus must be already in the spinal cord, this may be aggravation and cannot be provocation.…”

“…The 1916 epidemic was the most devastating epidemic in the history of poliomyelitis and is widely quoted in books about polio. Nowadays we are aware of the dangers of the escape of disease agents from laboratories, but in 1916, this was not considered [ 1 ] although impressive studies of the epidemiology were made [ 2 ]. The treatments used in the epidemic have been discussed by Rogers [ 3 ] and few others although the case-fatality rate was very high.…”