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Medical Officer's Report.
The "corrected" return for 1898 has not yet been received from the
Metropolitan Asylums Board.
SCARLET FEVER.
One hundred and seventeen cases were notified, and 103 of them were
removed to hospitals of the Metropolitan Asylums Board or the London
Fever Hospital.
There were more notifications of this disease, both in the District and in
London, than in 1898.
The principal incidence of the disease was from the middle of September
to the middle of November.
Of the District cases, three died; and of the London cases, 398—the
smallest number yet recorded.
DIPHTHERIA.
The number of cases of diphtheria was 63, including one case of membranous
croup. Last year the number was 138, and in 1897 it was 158.
Of these, 56 were removed to hospitals for treatment.
The cases were sparsely scattered throughout the District, two or three
cases sometimes occurring in the same house.
The number of deaths from diphtheria was 5, or a mortality of only 8
per cent.
In London the number of cases notified was 13,701 (including 338 cases
of membranous croup), and the number of deaths was 1964, or a mortality of
14.3 per cent.
The treatment of diphtheria by its antitoxin continues to give improved
results, especially in laryngeal and tracheotomy cases, and those that come
under the treatment within two or three days of the onset of the illness.
The bacteriological examination of material from doubtful cases of
diphtheria has been continued by the Jenner (late British) Institute of
Preventive Medicine. Of 109 such cases the diphtheria bacillus was isolated
in 35, and the pseudo-diphtheria bacillus, which is non-virulent to animals,
was isolated in 13 cases. In the remaining 61 cases it was not isolated. Most
of the material was sent by the London Homoeopathic Hospital. At the
Hospital for Sick Children, where also many cases of diphtheria from various
parts of London are treated, the bacteriological examination is carried out by
their own staff.
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