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SECTION F.— PREVALENCE OF, AND CONTROL
OVER, INFECTIOUS AND OTHER DISEASES.
During the year there were 849 cases of infectious disease notified
as compared with 541 during 1947.
As will be seen from the accompanying table, the number of
notifications received was higher than at any other time during the
last ten years. Of the total notifications 481 were in respect of
measles and 231 in respect of whooping cough, diseases which have
been notifiable since 1939, when the Measles and Whooping Cough
Regulations came into force.
Cerebro-Spinal Fever.
Three cases of this disease were notified during 1948.
Two of these—a boy aged 2 years and a girl also aged 2
years—died shortly after admission to hospital.
Diphtheria.
Four cases of diphtheria occurred during the year, the
ages of the patients being 7, 8, 20 and 38 years. One of
these patients (a boy aged 8 years) had been immunised in
infancy. The other three cases gave no history of immunisation.
All patients were removed to hospital, and made good
recoveries.
Food Poisoning.
Five cases of food poisoning were notified during the
year, 3 notifications being in respect of members of one
family. Investigations into the cases failed to reveal the
source of the food poisoning.
Poliomyelitis and Polioencephalitis.
There were 2 cases of poliomyelitis and 2 of polioencephalitis
notified during 1948.
The following tables show (a) the notifications of infectious
disease received during the year 1948, and (b) a comparison of notifications
received during the last 10 years.
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