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As far as possible the powers applying to dangerous infectious
diseases have been carried out in respect of measles, and in almost
all instances disinfection at least has been done.
WHOOPING COUGH.
There were 52 deaths from Whooping Cough, giving a death
rate of 051. Like Measles, this disease shows a considerable
increase from 1901.
Whooping Cough is a disease of about two months duration,
and is chiefly characterised by bronchial catarrh and a frequent
paroxysmal cough. It generally occurs as an epidemic late on in
the winter, say from January to March. Though no age is
absolutely exempt from Whooping Cough, it is essentially a
children's disease, most of the cases being met with in children
under seven years of age. It is most fatal in the second year of
life. The disease is almost entirely spread directly from patient
to patient, the patient being infectious from the very commencement
of the attack, and remaining so as long as the " whoop " is
present. Owing to its infectiousness, isolation of the patient
from other children should be enforced until there is no longer
any sign of the " whoop."
The above principles are generally accepted as fully established,
and the experience of the disease in Finsbury in 1903, well
illustrates them. Out of the 52 deaths, 41 occurred in the first
half of the year, and 27 in the first quarter. There were only 3
deaths in the last quarter of the year. Out of the 52 deaths,