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26
SPECIFIC INFECTIOUS DISEASE.
During 1919 there were 2,470 cases of acute infectious disease
compulsorily notified in the Borough, as set out in Table II.;
of these 19 were found subsequently not to be suffering from
any notifiable infectious disease, thus reducing the number
of genuine cases to 2,451. This total shows a decrease of 509
upon those notified during 1918. The attack rate in respect
of the acute notifiable infectious diseases for the year is 11.3 per
1,000 inhabitants.
In addition there were 483 notifications received of pulmonary
tuberculosis and 143 notifications of other forms of tuberculosis.
The deaths from the chief zymotic diseases numbered 167.
This is equivalent to a zymotic death-rate of 0.77 per 1,000
living in the Borough.
NOTIFIABLE INFECTIOUS DISEASES.
Small-pox.—There was not any notification of small-pox in
the Borough during 1919.
Vaccination.—For some comments on vaccination, and
on this year's small pox epidemic in Glasgow, still current,
see "Addendum" to the Appendix, p. 143, et seq.
Scarlet Fever or Scarlatina.—The number of cases of scarlet
fever notified during 1919 was 647, but of these three were found
afterwards not to be suffering from this disease, thus the number of
genuine cases was reduced to 644. This is an increase of 378 cases
upon the number of genuine cases notified during 1918. The disease
was normal during the first eight months of the year, and rose rapidly,
after the school holidays, in September, and the incidence of the
disease remained high during the remainder of the year. The
Metropolitan Asylums Board were unable to provide immediate
accommodation to patients owing to the prevalence of the disease
in the whole of London, and to the limited accommodation at their
disposal by reason of two of their largest institutions not having
been vacated by the military authorities. (This is precisely what
is happening again this current year, October, 1920.)