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27
DIPHTHERIA.
Deaths, 39 (Decennial average, 22.4).
Diphtheria was notified in 547 cases, and Membranous
Croup in one. Twentv-two of the certificates were duplicates;
eighteen of the cases were treated at home, where
four of them died; 508 were removed to hospital, but
eleven of these were found not to be suffering from Diphtheria.
Of the 497 genuine hospital cases, 35 died.
making, with the home deaths, a total of 39, which gives
♦
a case mortality of 7.6 per cent, against 11.96 per cent.
amongst the whole of the Eastern Hospital cases.
The Inspectors report that 245 of the homes of the
patients were in a satisfactory condition, but the W.C. or
the apparatus connected therewith was faulty in 42 cases;
the internal drains were defective in five cases, and the
yard drains in ten; minor insanitary defects were noted in
195 cases.
Twenty-eight patients were removed from single
room tenements, one of which was overcrowded.
96,000 units of anti-toxin were supplied free to
medical practitioners during the year under the provisions
of the Public Health (Diphtheria Anti-toxin) Regulations,
and 225 throat swabs were submitted to the Clinical Research
Association for examination. 89 of these gave
positive results, and 136 negative.
Twenty-nine of the deaths from Diphtheria were
amongst young children aged less than 5 years, a mortality
of 1.8 per thousand on the estimated population of
young children.