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72
cent, amongst the patients treated at home. The difference in
these case-mortalities is to be explained, in part, by the antitoxin
treatment* that all Hospital-treated, and fewer home-treated
patients, now have the advantage of having, and the greater care
in nursing that is procurable in Hospital (whither the most severe
cases are sent, as a rule).
The case-mortality rate for the whole of the Borough of
Lambeth during 1903 is low, pointing to the mildness of the
majority of cases notified.
The sudden decrease in the number of Diphtheria cases
throughout the new Borough of Lambeth during 1903 is again
remarkable', as it was during 1902 and 1901, and will be seen, on
comparison with the yearly mortality average of the 10 years
(1891-1900) for the old Parish of Lambeth. This yearly average
is 128, so that during 1903 there has been a decrease in the
mortality rate, in comparison, of 78.1 per cent. So, too, it the
number of notifications received during 1903 in the Borough of
Lambeth be compared with the yearly average of the 10 years
(1891-1900) for the old Parish of Lambeth, i.e., since the Notification
Clauses of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, came
into force, the same remarkable decrease will be noticed, viz., a
decrease of 53.9 per cent. The yearly average of notifications
for the old Parish is 715, and the number received for the
Borough for 1903 is 329. Fortunately the comparison can be
extended further, and made for many years past, as the statistics
for Diphtheria have been worked out in connected with the old
Parish, and are shown on the following page (73), as far as
mortality is concerned.
Even allowing for the slight fallacy that may arise from comparing
statistics of the old Parish with those of the new Borough
of Lambeth, the extraordinary sudden decrease in the mortality
from Diphtheria is most remarkable, and, when taken in conjunction
with the equally sudden decrease in the number of notifications
of the same disease received, points to a sudden decline
* 45 bottles of antitoxin have been gratuitously distributed in Lambeth
Borough during 1903 with most satisfactory results.