Effect of poliomyelitis on sodium and potassium in serum and urine.

Poliomyelitis is a problem receiving increasing attention in this country. Although this disease is as old as ancient Egypt, its importance has only been recently recognized and before the middle of this century no significant study of the disease had been carried out. Statistical surveys (Paul, Havens and Van Rooyen, 1944; Paul, 1949; Khalil, Ragab and Sakr, 1954; Gilliam, Hemphill and Gerende, 1949; Khalil and Abdin, 1954), and estimations of antibody titres (Paul, Melnick, Barnett and Goldblum, 1952; Paul, Melnick and Riordan, 1952; Williamson, 1957) appeared in the 1940s, but the only virological and clinical study of poliomyelitis was carried out in 1960 (Hashem, Akers and Mahdy, 1960). These studies of poliomyelitis, however, did not cover all aspects of the disease and there has been no report in this country regarding the electrolyte disturbances that accompany different types of the disease. The present work is an attempt to assess the electrolyte disturbances in poliomyelitis as observed in Egypt, with particular reference to the changes in sodium and potassium as the two main electrolytes of the body. In order to do this correctly, normal standards for sodium and potassium both in serum and urine had to be obtained. The age-groups of normal children covered by the present work extended from birth to the age of 12 years. Although poliomyelitis is very rare above 8 years, four extra years were included as a safety margin for the study. The age-group over 12 years was not considered.