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52
MEASLES.
As this is not a notifiable disease we can only gauge its
prevalence and degree of severity by means of the death returns
and school returns. Including both intra and extra-parochial
returns there were 60 deaths attributed to Measles during the year,
giving a death-rate of 0.61 per 1,000. The London death-rate
for Measles for 1904 was 0.49 per 1,000, there being 2,201 deaths
from that cause as against 2,046 in 1903. It is probable that
these figures do not fully indicate the destruction of life due
to Measles, for this disease is often complicated with bronchitis
or other respiratory disease, and hence some deaths due to Measles
are entered in the returns as due to bronchitis, &c. In 1904 the
secondary causes of death in the 60 cases were :—pneumonia 42,
bronchitis 13, convulsions 5. This gives 55 out of 60 (or 91 per
cent.) deaths due to lung complication. Measles and Whooping
Cough—both of which are looked upon generally as slight
ailments—caused more deaths in Finsbury (namely, 86) during
1904 than all the notifiable infectious diseases put together.
It may be pointed out that the remedy for this state of things
lies most largely in the hands of parents and others having the
care of children. There are strong reasons against the inclusion
of Measles under the notification clauses of the Public Health
(London) Act, 1891, and hospital provision for this disease is at
present impossible. Careful nursing of individual cases and
closure of Infants' Departments of schools during an outbreak,
coupled with disinfection when necessary, seem to be the best
methods of reducing the high death-rate from this disease, which
mainly affects children under 5 years of age.
It will be remembered that in 1903 new powers were granted to
the Local Authority in respect of Measles, which was to be treated
as a "dangerous infectious disease." The disease was not,
however, made notifiable. We have during 1904 received 802
intimations of the occurrence of the disease as follows :—