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MEASLES.
Measles continued its epidemic prevalence. Of the 1,111
notified cases, it was necessary to admit 34 to hospital. For the
third year in succession no child in the area has died from measles.
Before the outbreak of the last war one of the most characteristic
features of measles was its biennial periodicity—a year of relatively
low incidence was followed by a year in which the disease was
epidemic. These two-yearly epidemics of measles occurred with
such regularity that the onset of the outbreak could be foretold
with precision. For some reason which has never been explained,
the disease lost its characteristic periodicity soon after the outbreak
of World War II, and has never reverted to its pre-war two-yearly
epidemic phase.

These figures show, in respect of each year since 1941, the
number of notified cases and deaths. Since that time there has
been no biennial epidemic periodicity.