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81
Diphtheria Immunisation.
Diphtheria immunisation has held a recognised place in preventive
medicine for some years. A Clinic was established at 140, Camberwell
Road in 1926 for the purpose of providing artificial immunity
treatment against diphtheria. A session is held every Wednesday
afternoon. The Health Department makes every effort to educate
parents that diphtheria is a preventable disease, and can be controlled
by the active immunisation of susceptible children.
The number of children immunised in the Borough is still
lamentably small. I am of opinion that the deaths which occurred
from diphtheria in 1934 might have been prevented had the advantages
of immunisation treatment provided by the Borough Council
been accepted.
Scarlet Fever.
There were 916 cases of scarlet fever notified during the year as
compared with 1,564 in 1933. Of these, 789 patients were removed
to hospital and 32 were subsequently discharged as not suffering
from scarlet fever. The number of "Return" cases was 38 as
compared with 72 in 1933. The deaths from this disease numbered
4, equivalent to a case mortality rate of 0.4 per cent.
The type of this disease remained mild and no pressure was
exerted to remove cases to hospital for treatment which could be
nursed at home.
There were 22 instances of secondary cases occurring in
families where the first case was removed to hospital, as compared
with 6 secondary cases following notification of the primary case
and the isolation of the patient at home.
Immunisation against Scarlet Fever.
As long as the existing type of scarlet fever remains mild there
seems to be no necessity for the establishment of a Clinic for the
immunisation of children against this disease by the use of scarlet
fever antitoxin.

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