Official efforts to stem its spread consisted primarily of quarantines, the closure of public places, and the use of chemical disinfectants to cleanse areas where the disease had been present.

A study of the situation indicated that the disease was spreading in a southerly direction and was invading the Parkville section, to the east of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

[6] Unlike other epidemics and outbreaks, New York City saw its most significant number of proportional cases in less populated boroughs such as Staten Island and Queens.

Also, the immigrant families benefited from the city's sanitation department prioritizing the hygiene of their neighborhoods, considering that they were thought to be the epicenter as opposed to the native communities in Staten Island.

A number of social distancing initiatives were put in place to contain the outbreak; movie theaters were closed, meetings were canceled, public gatherings were almost nonexistent, and children were warned not to drink from water fountains, and told to avoid amusement parks, swimming pools, and beaches.

[1] The names and addresses of individuals with confirmed polio cases were published daily in the press, their houses were identified with placards, and their families were quarantined.

In John Haven Emerson's A Monograph on the Epidemic of Poliomyelitis (Infantile Paralysis) in New York City in 1916,[10] one suggested remedy reads: Give oxygen through the lower extremities, by positive electricity.

Kola, dry muriate of quinine, elixir of cinchone, radium water, chloride of gold, liquor calcis and wine of pepsin.

[2] In response to a call issued by Commissioner Emerson, a conference of experts was held at the Health Department on June 28, 1916, to discuss plans for the control of infantile paralysis in Brooklyn.

At the conference it was decided to organize a special field force in Brooklyn under Simon R. Blatteis of the Department's Bureau of Preventable Diseases.

The Department of Health prepared a special pavilion at its Kingston Avenue Hospital for people with infantile paralysis to be cared for by skilled specialists.

[12] The Health Commissioner ordered that all children under the age of 16 be prohibited from areas of public gatherings such as movie theaters and playgrounds and highly advised them to remain at home.

For example, people believed that contaminated sharks brought germs to America due to the toxic air they inhaled in Europe during the war.

The social hierarchy was the native-born people or White Anglo-Saxon Protestants were at the top of the food chain, followed by the Irish and Germans who were considered established immigrants.

The people deemed inferior were the Polish, Russian, and Italian immigrants who held the reputation of lacking hygiene and living in overcrowded and dirty areas.

[7] Dr. Emerson, the city commissioner of health, assumed that the epicenter of cases was due to overcrowded housing of these immigrant groups who primarily lived in lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.

[13] The New York Times reported that Italian immigrants had brought the disease to America, even though no record of cases passed through Ellis Island.

[5] The claim was not accurate as studies displayed that Staten Island, which had the lowest foreign-born population out of all the boroughs, had the highest proportion of cases.

Like the white immigrant groups, people assumed that African Americans were one of the primary spreaders of Polio because they tended to be lower-skilled labor workers and lived in crowded and dilapidated communities.

The media pleaded for parents not to let their children participate in public gatherings, leading to the more extensive shutdown of many movie theaters, parks, and more.

On July 4, The New York Times published a fear-mongering headline that read, "Bar All Children from the Movies in Paralysis War… 72 New Cases in the City Twenty-Three Deaths Occurred Here Yesterday.

Not only were they fearful of letting their children out of the house, but mothers also took very extreme measures to combat Polio, such as stuffing the cracks of windows with rags to prevent the disease from getting in.