The Distribution of Poliomyelitis and ECHO Viruses in a Children's Institution

The ECHO group of viruses has been continuously under extensive study by many workers. Until now, all of these strains have been isolated from cases of illness, including aseptic meningitis, nonparalytic poliomyelitis, diarrhea, summer rash, etc., 2-13 respiratory illness, 15 or from healthy children. 14 Twenty-four antigenic prototypes have been recognized 1 to date. In the course of a poliomyelitis survey in Rome in 1956, we were interested in a community of healthy children under 2 years of age. This study was performed because very little endemiological work on enteric infections had been recorded in Italy, and because it seemed desirable to develop data on the enteric viral flora among apparently healthy Italian children. These studies were done at the orphanage of the Municipality of Rome, which accepts an average of 500 children. The present study, extending previously reported data, 16,17 reports the isolation of 129 strains of tissue culture