Isolation of Poliomyelitis Virus from Human Stools During the Incubation Period.

Since 1945, there have been 3 reports of the isolation of poliomyelitis virus from human stools collected during the incubation period. Pearson and Rendtorff1 recorded the isolation of poliomyelitis virus from the stool of a child taken 11 days before the onset of an “abortive” case of the disease; Brown, Francis, and Pearson2 from the stool of a boy taken 12 days before the onset of symptoms and 19 days before the onset of paralysis, and Gear and Mundel3 from the stool of a boy 12 days before onset of signs and paralysis.Melnick4 has isolated virus from the stools of monkeys and chimpanzees several days prior to the onset of clinical signs and symptoms following subcutaneous and intracutaneous inoculation of these animals with poliomyelitis virus.Poliomyelitis virus has been isolated by us from the stools of 3 more children, taken before the onset of the first signs and symptoms. Poliomyelitis in each of these children was what we believe to be the usual form of the disease, i. e., without stiff neck, st...