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SCARLET FEVER
There were a large number of cases of scarlet fever in
Edmonton in 1959 and most of the cases were in children attending the
Infant and Junior Schools. In most cases the disease was not serious
but in some children the infection persisted in the nose or throat for
several weeks. Exclusion of cases and contacts in the family was
sufficient to prevent serious spread in most schools but in one school
the number of cases of sore throat in the entry class (5 years old)
became excessive. The noses and throats of all the children attending
school in the class were therefore swabbed and bacteriologically examined
and 6 children were found to be fairly heavily infected with
haemolytic streptococci. These children were excluded from school and
treated by their family doctors and there was no further spread of
epidemic sore throat in this class or indeed in this school.
1958 seems to have been the peak year for scarlet fever
notifications when there were 224 cases but 1959 runs close with 207.
If is possible that an influenza epidemic tends to be followed by an
increased incidence of scarlet fever. Both diseases affect the throat
and secondary infection is very common in influenza.
MEASLES
The 1958 Measles epidemic continued into 1959 and did not
really end until April, There were occasional cases during the summer
months and then a small epidemic during October, November and December.
The Measles cases notified during 1959 tended to be milder than those
notified during 1958. A Central Council of Health Education leaflet on
Measles is now sent to the parents of each child known to be suffering
from the disease and most parents appear to appreciate the information
given in this leaflet.
TUBERCULOSIS
In 1959 the increase in the number of cases of tuberculosis
on the register was at last halted. There was a slight decrease in the
number on the register at the end of 1959 compared with 1958. The actual
figures are 1,356 for 1959, 1,364 for 1958. The tide of tuberculous
infection in Edmonton has therefore begun to ebb. Judging by notifications,
however, the reduction is mainly in infection in women. Over the
years 1957 to 1959 the notifications of pulmonary tuberculosis in men
were for 1957 - 39, for 1958 - 32, and for 1959 - 37. In women, however,
the notifications for 1957 were 32, for 1958 - 26, and for 1959 - 12.
Further it is in the main in men over the age of 35 that pulmonary
tuberculosis occurs, though it is true that the casualties in the 15 to
25 year group are heavier in the young men than in the young women. The
main task now seems to be to reduce infection in middle-aged and elderly
men.
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