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112
Medical Officers of Health Annual Report.
The death-rate per 1,000 from scarlet fever was .25
compared with .21 in the whole Metropolis, and .18 in
England and Wales for the year 1896.
Diphtheria.
98 notifications were received during the
year, an increase of 38 compared with 1895. 33 of
these were removed to hospital, where 4 deaths occurred,
while of the remaining 65 treated at home, 8 proved
fatal, the total deaths being 12 compared with 6 in 1895.
The total case mortality was 12.2 per cent. compared
with 10 per cent. in 1895. The case mortality of home
treated cases was 12.3 per cent., and that of hospital
treated cases 12.1 per cent., reversing the order that
obtained in 1895, when the hospital treated cases showed
a higher case mortality.
Diphtheria was increasingly prevalent in London
during 1890, the proportion notified per 1,000 of population
being 3.1, while for this sub-district the proportion
per 1,000 was (inclusive in both cases of
membranous croup) only 1.7.
Membranous
Croup.
Only two notifications of this were received,
and one death resulted, a percentage of 50.
Most cases of membranous croup are now notified as
diphtheria and that accounts for the small number of
notifications received under this head. Laryngeal diphtheria
has a higher case mortality than other forms, and
the transference of most of the cases to diphtheria would
therefore raise the mortality of the latter.
The total case mortality of the two combined for
the year was 13 per cent., which compares favourably
with former years, viz.:—15.5 per cent. in 1895, and 17
per cent. in 1894. For the whole of London the case
mortality for the year was 19.2 per cent, compared with