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Scabies was made notifiable in 1943 in order that other
members of a family night if infested be induced to undergo
treatment at the same time and so prevent re-Infestation of a
school child for example by a younger or older member of the
family in whom the infestation was not suspected or was
unnoticed. The trend of notifications is definitely on the downgrade
partly due to the efficacy of the more modern treatment
and also to the fact that it doos not seem necessary to upset the
household by treating the bedding, which in the past has been one
reason for hiding the malady. The County of London (Scabies)
Regulations 1943, made scabies compulsorily notifiable from the
1st August and in the first four weeks 103 cases were so notified
In the following month 162 were notified then month by month 113,
133 and 113 in December.
The free issue of Lethano for head lico has been much less
patronised and there seems little doubt that heads are much cleaner
now than they were in 1942.
Infestation with body lice is comparatively rare nowadays
and almost confined to the tramp class.
PREVALENCE AND CONTROL OVER INFECTIOUS AND OTHER DISEASES.
The measles epidemic which started in the autumn of 1942
carried over until the end of May 1943, most of tho 1,533 cases
being notified in the second half of 1942 and of the 1,288 in
tho first half of 1943. Whooping cough cases also tended to rise.
Scarlet fever caused a definite epidemic with howover but little
morbidity and only one death among tho 716 cases notified.
Diphtheria gave rise to 103 notifications compared with an average
figure of some 800 in pre-war years. No child who had completed
the full immunisation course not less than 12 weeks contracted
the disease but of the 103 others who had not been treated and
who contracted the desaese, five died.