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64 Medical Officers of Health Annual Report.
ately we have frequently experienced difficulty in having
cases removed expeditiously on account of want of hospital
accommodation. This is undoubtedly largely the result
of the fact which I have already mentioned, namely, that
a much larger proportion of cases take advantage of the
hospitals than in former years. During the last five
years the number of beds in the fever hospitals has
increased from 2,110 to 3,278.
There were no cases in which the disease recurred
after disinfection had been carried out. In one house
in which scarlet fever broke out, there was, unfortunately,
a recurrence of the disease on two occasions, not
after disinfection, but after the return home of two of
the children from the hospital when they were supposed
to be free from infective power. The first child was
noticed to be suffering from throat catarrh on his return.
On the fourth day afterwards, the brother with whom
he slept developed the disease. In the second case the
child, when sent home, was found to be peeling, and
in his turn became the vehicle of infection to several
others. This is the first time in my experience that
return cases from hospital have been a source of infection
in this Sub-District. In the case of the first child
I am convinced the infection resided in the discharge
from the throat. It is, in my opinion, equally as important
to see that the throat is in a normal, healthy
condition, as it is in the case of the skin.
Diphtheria.
This disease has been gradually dying out
in this sub-district since 1893. In that year there were 69
cases notified, with 14 deaths. In 1894, thirty-two cases
were notified, with three deaths; in 1895, eight were
notified, with two deaths.
Typhoid Fever.
Sixteen cases of typhoid fever were notified
to me, and of these two proved fatal. Most of these