Trends in the velocity of poliomyelitis epidemics in the U.S., 1910–1971. For each of the epidemics identified in , graphs plot four alternative measures of epidemic velocity. (A) Average time to infection,
, scaled to the duration of the epidemic. (B) Standard deviation,
s, scaled to the duration of the epidemic. (C) Skewness,
b 1. (D) Kurtosis,
b 2. Linear trend lines have been fitted to the distributions by ordinary least squares. Time intervals associated with major periods of poliovirus transmission as defined in are indicated.