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73
MEASLES AND WHOOPING COUGH.
The district has remained comparatively free from measles
and whooping cough during the year.
Only 368 cases of measles and 455 of whooping cough came
to knowledge, as compared respectively with 1,636 and 1,095
cases in 1905.
Measles.
Measles accounted for 25 deaths, compared with 51 during
1905, but 28 of the 51 deaths of 1905 occurred during the fourth
quarter of 1905, and 12 of the 25 deaths of 1906 during the first
quarter of 1906. All of these deaths are, therefore, to be credited
to the epidemic which prevailed towards the end of last year.
At the re-assembling of the schools at the beginning of the
year a few cases of measles were reported, for the most part
residua of the 1905 outbreak, but until the end of April there
was no considerable outbreak of measles in any of the schools
throughout the district.
From the end of April until the end of July measles
prevailed in moderate degree without intermission, but alter
the summer holidays the schools remained practically free of
the disease until the end of the year.
There was one exception to this, namely, Kensal Kise School.
An outbreak occurred in one of the classes in the infant department
of this school towards the end of October. As the outbreak
was limited to one class, the class alone was closed ; but on
the expiry of the incubative period of the disease another class
in the same department became extensively affected, and I
deemed it advisable to recommend the closure of the department.
This was done, with the result that not another case
of measles occurred in that school up to the end of the year.