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was suspended from work until after disinfection, as required
by the rules of the Central Midwives Board, had been carried
out.
Whooping Cough was the registered cause of deaths in
4 instances, representing a death-rate of .07, against 30 deaths
last year and 14 in the previous year, and a death-rate of .58
and .28 respectively.
The deaths were distributed over the age periods as follows:—Under
one year, 1; between one and two years, 3.
Two occurred in Trinity Ward and two in South Park.
Erysipelas.—This disease was less prevalent than during
last year. Thirty-five notifications were received and one
death registered, as compared with 54 cases in 1908 when no
deaths from Erysipelas occurred.
Influenza was certified as the cause of 18 deaths, whilst
last year there were 3, and in 1906, 10. Sixteen of these took
place in the months of February and March, and the majority
were, as usual, complicated with pneumonia and pleurisy.
They were distributed through the wards as follows: —
St. Mary's, 1; St. John's, 2; Cottenham Park, 2; Dundonald,
2; Trinity, 8; South Park, 3.
Fifteen of the deaths were of persons over 35 years of age.
Measles.—Measles was responsible for 5 deaths during
the year, equivalent to a death-rate of .09, as compared with
10 last year and a death-rate of .19, and 19 and a death-rate
of .39 in 1906.
Measles not being notifiable there is no definite information
as to the number of persons affected, and it is therefore
impossible to give the attack rate, but some idea of its prevalence
can be gauged by the returns sent in by the Head
Teachers of the Public Elementary Schools giving the names
of children absent or sent home from school owing to the fact
that they are suspected to be suffering from the disease.
Thirty-one lists containing the names of 95 scholars were
received, as against 93 lists and 401 scholars last year.
Of the deaths three were of children under one year of
age, one 15 months, and the other six years. One incurred in
the month of February, three in July, and one in August.
Four of the deaths were in Trinity Ward and the other
in South Park Ward—all in the portion of the Borough south
of Haydon's Road.
The influence of school attendance upon the spread of
Measles and of school closure on its restriction has been the
subject of much inquiry of late years. Investigations over a
number of years made by the Medical Officer to the Education
Department of the London County Council and in several
large towns show that: —
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