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32
Scarlet fever—Seasonal variation in fatality.
In my last two reports I published tables which gave strong indications that scarlet fever had a
definite seasonal fatality, and in my report for 1895, when correction was made for differences in
age and sex distribution of the cases notified in the several months of the year, it was found that such
differences were insufficient to account for the variations shown in the fatality. I now supply the
figures of the year 1897 and of the period 1892-7, which are uncorrected for differences in age and sex.
It will be seen that the fatality is greatest at the beginning of the year, that it practically falls from
the beginning of the year until September or October is reached, and subsequently increases.
There is arrest of this fall in August, due to the fact that schools are closed at that time, leading to a
diminution in the number of cases among children at school age, and a consequent increase in the
proportion of the cases occurring in early life, when the fatality is high.