小兒痿症的歷史透視

在Covid-19流行當下，今年8月美國疾病管制及預防中心（CDC，2022）宣告紐約市、非洲莫三比克、馬拉威等國爆發小兒麻痺疫情。這項號稱跡近絕跡30年的千年古疾，幾乎為世人所遺忘，甚至無法叫出其病名，多以「小兒中風」之名稱之甚或與小兒腦性麻痺混淆之。世界衛生組織（WHO）曾宣誓小兒麻痺症務必於2010年根除，多數國家也紛紛標榜此病早已絕跡，然則迄2013起迄2022年在美洲、亞洲、非洲、中東等國家層出不窮爆發此病例，WHO不得不於2019年宣告此現象為「怪異公共衛生的危險，小兒麻痺症將必捲土重來」；尤以美國紐約、伊利諾州、明尼蘇達州等16先進地區竟有數以千計案例，其症狀初期與感冒無異，且多發生在幼兒身上，數千年以降，小兒麻痺症不絕如縷，引發小兒癱瘓，多數文獻指出：「該疾病至今無法治癒」，有鑒於此，梳理中醫古籍中發現為「小兒痿症」之屬，兩者後遺症多有雷同處，而中醫對這些“西醫”疾病的治療，或許可以驅散“神怒症”的魔咒。

關鍵字

小兒痿症；小兒麻痺；小兒腦性麻痺；中醫典籍；中西醫共整合

並列摘要

As if the Covid-19 epidemic hasn't given us enough trouble, an outbreak of polio was recently recorded in the United States, Mozambique, Malawi, and other countries. This thousand-year-old disease, which is said to have been extinct for nearly 30 years, is almost forgotten by the world. Sometimes it is even difficult to recall its name. It is often called ＂infantile atrophy＂ or confused with infantile cerebral palsy. The World Health Organization (WHO) once declared that polio must be eradicated in 2010, and most countries have announced that the disease has already disappeared. However, from 2013 to 2022, it has flared up again as recorded in the Americas, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. In 2019, we had to declare this phenomenon ＂an uncanny public health danger＂ , and predicted that ＂polio will make a comeback＂ , especially in the United States. There were 521 cases in 16 affluent US states such as Illinois and Minnesota, and the initial symptoms were not different from those of influenza with fever, muscular pain and catarrh. It mostly happens in young children. For many years, polio has been incessant, causing paralysis in children. Most literature indicates that ＂the disease cannot be cured so far.＂ In essence, both the polio and infantile cerebral palsy have many genetic similarities, and traditional Chinese medical treatment of these ＂Western＂＂diseases can probably dispel the curse that＂＂make god angry disease＂.