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for last year I mentioned that 24 persons were notified as
suffering from diphtheria, when, in my opinion, diphtheria
was absent both clinically and bacteriologically, and I am
bound to confess that at the time of that report I considered
that the adoption by the Vestry of means of offering bacteriological
diagnosis would result in a diminution of the notifications
from diphtheria; instead of that the exact opposite has
occurred, and I think this can be explained by the fact that
there are certain cases which have been notified during the
past year as diphtheria, which in the absence of a bacteriological
examination would be considered as non-specific.
At the beginning of November the Heber Road Board
School was closed. During the whole of October I had kept a
careful look-out on this school, as it seemed to be having more
than its fair share of diphtheria, especially as the other schools
in the neighbourhood were at this time pretty free from the
disease. The report, which was presented to the Vestry on
November Ist, and on which they decided to close not only
the Infants' Department, but the whole school is appended
below. The school was closed for three weeks.
[Copy.]
November 1st, 1899.
Dear Sir, —I have to report that since October 2nd there have been
27 primary cases of diphtheria at the Heber Road Board School and that
the incidence of the disease has been especially on the infants' department
and to a lesser degree on the girls' department. The total number of
primary cases notified in the Parish for the similar period was 159, the
aggregate of both primary and secondary cases being 179. From the
inquiries I have made at the houses and at the school I find that the first
one in a household to be attacked was in the infants' department in 20
instances, while in the remaining seven the illness started from one who
was attending the girls' school. In no instance was anyone in the boys'
department the first to be attacked. The average attendance for the
infants' school for the week ending October 27th was 599, and the infants
in two classes were especially affected, and to a lesser degree was a third
division involved.
The disease being decidedly on the increase I made arrangements on
October 27th to take some cultivations from the throats of five children
taken at random from two classes where the disease, judging from the notifications
received, was most prevalent at the time. This was accordingly
done on October 30th, and the result of the examination by Dr. Bousfield
shewed that in one case diphtheria bacilli were present; in another
X.