Maltese with genetic susceptibility to poliomyelitis : sibs with paralysis at different times

Abstract

The author of this article found the records of 1,072 Maltese cases of poliomyelitis in the islands of Malta from 1909 to 1964. These cases and baptism matched controls were traced to their great grand-parents and all marriages were checked for consanguinity. There were no twins among the polios or controls, but there were 70 pairs of sibs. Of these, 13 pairs suffered poliomyelitis in different epidemics even though the younger sib was born after the elder was paralysed. The 27 pairs of polio sibs were directly related to more than twice as many other polios (through grand-parents and great grand-parents) as the 22 pairs of control sibs. The families of polio sibs contained more consanguineous marriages than either the 21 sibs of which one was a polio and the other a control or the control sibs. The polio sibs provide further evidence of genetic susceptibility to poliomyelitis and possible problems arising from the eradication of the disease