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24
DIPHTHERIA.
The number of cases of diphtheria notified was 64, of which 32 belonged
to St. Giles and Bloomsbury, and 32 to the Holborn District. All but 9
patients were removed to hospital. The average number of notifications for
the preceding decennium was 109, 35 for St. Giles and Bloomsbury, and 74
for the Holborn District. Four of the cases were on the medical or nursing
staff at one of the hospitals in the Borough.
Secondary Cases.
There were only four secondary cases all occurring within a few days of
the primary case.
Return Cases.
There was no return case during the year.
Errors in Diagnosis.
Only two patients were returned from hospital as not suffering from
diphtheria. One on the day following admission, and the other after an
interval of about one month.
ENTERIC FEVER.
Excluding duplicates, there were only 14 notifications of enteric fever, in
comparison with 15 the previous year; of which 6 belonged to St. Giles and
Bloomsbury, and 8 to the Holborn District. The average number of notifications
for the preceding decennium was 40; 23 in St. Giles and Bloomsbury,
and 17 in the Holborn District. All the cases were removed to hospital.
Of the 14 patients it was afterwards found that five were not suffering
from enteric fever. Of the remaining nine at least three, contracted their illness
when staying out of the Borough. Two of them, although living in different
houses in the Borough, had been staying in the same house at Whitstable just
before their illness. One patient was a servant at a hospital where there had
been a case recently admitted, in which,the diagnosis was definitely confirmed
by the Widal reaction. About the same time, a porter, who worked at the
hospital, but lived out of the Borough, was removed to hospital. The Senior
Physician of the hospital had a consultation with me, and we made careful
inquiries respecting the matter. The general sanitary condition of the
hospital was excellent.
TYPHUS FEVER.
One case of typhus fever occurred in the Borough, viz., a female, age 50,