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15
REPORT of the Medical Officer of Health upon the
expediency of notifying Measles as a "Dangerous In
fectious Disease," etc.
In accordance with the desire of the Board, I beg to report to you on the
above subject.
At a meeting of the Vestry of St. George the Martyr, Southwark, on June
18th, 1895, Dr. Waldo, the Medical Officer of Health, reported that in his
opinion measles should be notified and removable to a hospital.
I will first compare the deaths in London from measles with those from
scarlet fever, for which some preventive measures have for some years past
been taken.
Last year there were as many as 3292 deaths from measles in London,
whereas from scarlet fever there only 964 deaths.
While the deaths from scarlet fever have diminished to less than onefifth
of what they were, on the average, in the ten years 1861-70, viz.,
from 11.4 per 10,000 inhabitants of London to only 2.2 in 1894,
those from measles are gradually increasing, and last year were as many
as 7.4 per 10,000. Or to put it in other words, while the number
of deaths from measles is increasing, for every 100 deaths from scarlet
fever in the years 1861-70, there are now less than 20, or for every death
from scarlet fever now there used to be, about thirty years ago, more than 5
deaths; so that last year there was a saving of about 4000 lives, and the
prevention of about 80,000 cases of scarlet fever in London alone. This will
perhaps help you to realize the enormous amount of illness with its
attendant expense, trouble, inconvenience, and damage to life and well-being
that has been saved by the preventive measures—becoming gradually more
and more perfect—that have been taken in the case of scarlet fever.
There were more deaths in London last year from measles than from any
other infectious disease, being 23 per cent, higher than those from diphtheria,
which was the next highest.
Amongst children the mortality from measles is greater than that from all
the notifiable diseases put together.
If measles were notified, all children from infected houses could be