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48
The old Parish of Lambeth became the new Borough in
1900-1, and a comparison can be drawn between the Diphtheria
and Membranous Croup statistics for the four years
during which the Borough has been in existence (1901-1904)
and those for the previous four years of the old Parish
(1897-1900). Thus, the notifications have dropped in number
from a total of 3,502, received in connection with the
old Parish during 1897-1900, to a total of 1,664, received
in connection with the new Borough during 1901-1904;
whilst the deaths for the same period have fallen from a total
of 662, for the old Parish, to a total of 166 for the new
Borough. Expressed in rates per million living, the notifications
have dropped from 2,860 to 1,358, and the deaths from
426 to 135, i.e., the morbidity (sickness) 52 per cent., and
the mortality (death) 68 per cent, respectively.
Evenallowing for the comparatively slight differences due
to the alterations in the old Parish, to form the new Borough,
boundaries, these statistics show an enormous decrease in
the incidence of, and mortality from, Diphtheria and Membranous
Croup, and the cause of this sudden decrease is
somewhat difficult entirely to account for. All will agree that
the increased sanitary vigilance displayed by the Sanitary
Authority in recent years, and the more prompt notification
(both by medical men and school teachers), and subsequent
isolation of cases have helped in part to bring about this
satisfactory change, though I am of opinion that bacteriological
examinations, with consequent more exact diagnoses,
and the more general use of anti-toxin in the treatment, of
these diseases, together with a cyclical change in their
natures, have had the largest share in causing so sudden
a decrease.
The facts as they stand are interesting and deserve notice;
more especially as in these days there is a tendency to question
the value of the methods adopted by sanitary authorities, and
the financial outlay connected therewith, in battling with the
spread of epidemic disease.
Joseph Priestley.
May 1st, 1905.