View report page

31
examined. Although there appears to have been an element of doubt
about the case, death was not believed by the medical practitioner to
have been the result of cerebro-spinal fever. No bacteriological examination
was made.
(5) That of a child, aged 13 months, of 122, C— Street. No post-mortem
examination was made. The case was believed to have been one of
tuberculous meningitis.
The following cases were brought to my notice by the medical attendants early
in the year before the disease was notifiable as possibly being cases of cerebro-spinal
fever:—
(1) A child, male, aged 2, of 99, B— Road, a house in a satisfactory
sanitary condition, died with symptoms suggestive of cerebro-spinal
fever. Fluid from the spinal cord was examined by the bacteriologist,
but found to be sterile.
(2) An infant, male, aged 6 months, of 16, H— Street, a house in a
satisfactory sanitary condition, died with signs and symptoms suggesting
to the medical attendant the possibility of cerebro-spinal fever. Death
occurred after a few days' illness, and was preceded by the appearance
of purpuric spots about the face and scalp, with a few scattered over
the trunk and limbs. A post-mortem examination was negative as to
the case having been one of cerebro-spinal fever, nor did the bacteriologist
ascertain the presence of the meningococcus. The
eruption, on close examination, was extremely suggestive of that of
chicken pox. There had been chicken pox in the house within a month
of the infant's fatal illness. An inquest was held, and a verdict of
bronchitis and chicken pox was returned.
Of the seven cases which were certified to be cerebro-spinal fever, in one the
specific micro-organism of the disease was found, thereby proving that the case was
a genuine one of cerebro-spinal fever; one was not positively shown to have been
a genuine case, but was a case of basal meningitis; the remaining five were not
proved to be cases of the disease. With regard to the other cases enquired into,
in one only was positive evidence obtained as to the presence of the specific microorganism
of cerebro-spinal fever.
The deaths certified from cerebro-spinal fever numbered 4, all of children under
five years, of whom three were males and one female, the death-rate being
0.03 per 1,000 inhabitants. The deaths from meningitis not stated to have been
tuberculous numbered 22, of which 19 were of children under five. Including the
deaths attributed to cerebro-spinal fever, they were rather below the average for the
previous six years in point of numbers.
In the whole of London less than 140 cases were notified, and some 25 deaths
were certified as due to cerebro-spinal fever.