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74
directions. For 1898, a single report issued by the Statistical
Committee covered the entire ground.* The report is comprised
in two volumes; the second volume, treating of matters
relating to the work of the Managers as the Hospital and
Ambulance Authority for London, having naturally the
greater interest for sanitary authorities. From this report the
following statement of facts, in regard to 1898, is summarized
: the report for 1899 had not been published when
the present report went to press.
Notification Statistics show that 37,316 cases of infectious
disease were recorded in the metropolis during the year
1898, being 8,101 fewer than in 1897. Of these,31,821 cases (32
being cases of supposed small-pox, 16,894 of scarlet fever, 11,543
of diphtheria, 312 of membranous croup, and 3,040 of " fever ")
were legally eligible for admission to the Managers' hospitals;
and 20,849, or 65.5 per cent. of such cases were admitted.
The notification figures are uncorrected for mistakes in
diagnosis: thus, of the 32 cases notified as small pox, only
five were found to be genuine cases of small-pox. Many
cases, moreover, notified as diphtheria, proved to be cases of
other diseases, and a considerable number of cases of mistaken
diagnosis occurred in respect of enteric or typhoid fever. The
increase in the ratio of cases of diphtheria to scarlet fever cases,
which has been a marked feature for some years past, made
further progress in 1898; and in four districts the number
of diphtheria notifications exceeded those of scarlet fever.
The notifications of infectious disease are addressed to the
medical officers of health, who forward copies to the Board.
The notification returns assign the cases to the sanitary
districts; but when the patients are admitted to the hospitals,
the Managers are by law required to assign the cases
*The Ambulance Committee, however, issued a separate report, dated January
16th 1899, which forms Appendix I. (p. 45) to the report of the Statistical
Committee for 1898.