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46
Report of the Medical Officer of Health.
and this was also the cause of the increase in October and
November.
There was no special outbreak calling for notice during the
year, with the exception of the cases occurring in South Streatham,
and these were due largely to unrecognised cases attending school
while in an infective condition.
The attention of the Medical Officer to the London School
Board was called to the prevalence of the disease in the school,
and swabs were taken from the throats of several children, chiefly
in the Infants' Department, with the result that several cases of
the disease were discovered and at once isolated.
The Hyde Farm estate was almost free from the disease after
the month of February and as a consequence the number of cases
attending the schools in that district largely decreased.
The following Table shows the number of cases of Diphtheria
and their relationship to the schools in the Borough.
The total number of cases in the Table does not coincide with
the total number in the Local Government Board's Table, as correction
has been made for errors in diagnosis.
The largest proportion of cases occurred among children
attending Eardley Road School, South Streatham, the cases occurring
in every month of the year except April, and particularly in
the last four months of the year.
In Table III. of the Local Government Board's Tables it will
be noted that 281, or 52.8, per cent., occurred at ages five to 15, and
168, or 31.5 per cent., under five years of age.
It was not thought necessary to close the Infants' Department
of Eardley Road School, but a careful inspection and examination
of the children was made by the Medical Officer to the London
School Board, and the class-rooms were thoroughly disinfected
in the month of December.
There was no special reason why cases should have been
more numerous at this school than at any of the other schools in
the neighbourhood, except that in addition to the unrecognised
cases, the new property has been erected on soil much the same,
as regards organic matter, as the soil on the Hyde Farm estate.
The following Table shows the number of cases of Diphtheria
and their relationship to the schools attended by the patients, as
well as the number occurring during each month of the year.