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52
in many instances to my own knowledge, 110 suspicion
as to the true nature of the disease arose until the
patient was found to be desquamating, I feel sure that
a number of other slight cases, where no medical man
was called in, never got reported at all. They were
not excluded from school altogether in an infectious
condition and undoubtedly communicated the disease
to their schoolmates. In like manner some of the
children sent away to cottage homes by the Country
Holiday Fund returned to London after slight attacks
and brought the disease with them; a number of cases
were traced to this source. These facts account for
the prevalence of the disease during the year.
DIPHTHERIA.
Total Deaths 18. (Decennial average 50).
The number of cases reported was 290 including
nine cases of membranous croup. Two hundred and
seventy one patients were removed to Metropolitan
Asylums Board Hospitals, five more were treated in
other hospitals and fourteen remained at home. In
fifty one instances a notification was received from
the M.A.B. Medical Superintendents to the effect that
the diagnosis as stated on the certificate was incorrect.
Fourteen persons stated to be suffering from Diphtheria
were retained at home. I visited all these and the
illness in each case was of such slight nature as to
raise a considerable doubt in my mind as to the
accuracy of the diagnosis; all these patients recovered,
but eighteen of the hospital cases died, a case mortality
of 7.5 per cent. On the whole number exclusive of
those stated to be incorrectly diagnosed, the corres-