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139
have occurred amongst the occupants of Nisbet Street during the
several months of the year 1918:—
Cases of Diphtheria
Jan. Feb. Mar. April May June
0 0 0 0 0 0
July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.
1 0 4 1 0 1
The "many cases" consist of a total of seven, during the last
six months of the year, of which four occurred in the month of
September, one other case in each of the months of July, October
and December. With respect to the four cases in September, two
occurred in one famuly, and one each in two other families. The
source of these cases of diphtheria was quite definitely ascertained,
and had no relation to the condition of the houses.
During the month of September, an early outbreak of
diphtheria occurred chiefly in Homerton associated with two of
the elementary schools in that neighbourhood. In one of these
schools no less than eleven cases occurred during September, and
thirty-five during October; in the other school two cases occurred
during September and ten during October. Moreover, bacteriological
examination of the throats and noses of certain children
attending the former school revealed the presence of quite a number
of carriers, i.e., children having the organism of diphtheria present
in their throats or noses without the children showing the slightest
signs of any illness. On one day early in October, seven such carriers
and five other children with suspicious organisms in their nasopharyngeal
passages were discovered in the first-mentioned school.
Later on other carriers and suspicious cases were discovered amongst
the scholars of the same school. Suspicious cases were also
discovered in the second school. Of the five cases from Nisbet
Street in September and October, three attended these schools,
one of them being a carrier. A fourth case in October also
attended another school in which cases of diphtheria had occurred
during August, September and October, but the cases were not
as numerous as in the two first schools mentioned.