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22
INFECTIOUS AND OTHER DISEASES.
Under the provisions of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891,
the Tuberculosis Regulations, and the Deptford (Measles) Regulations,
1922, 2,578 cases of infectious diseases were notified, as compared
with 2,733 in 1925. In a Table on another page will be found a list
of cases notified and their distribution in the several Wards.
To the seven principal epidemic diseases, viz.:—Small-pox,
Measles, Scarlet Fever, Diphtheria, Whooping Cough, Enteric Fever,
and Infantile Diarrhoea, 77 deaths were ascribed, and the death-rate
was 0.67 per 1,000 against 0.74 in the preceding year. On another
page will be found a Table indicating the number of deaths and the
death-rates from these diseases during the past ten years.
Small-Pox.
No person was notified as suffering from Small-pox during the year.

399 persons were notified as suffering from this disease during the
year under report as compared with a total of 310 for the previous year.
Included in this total are five patients who, after removal to hospital,
were certified to be not suffering from the disease in question ; also 3
cases which occurred amongst the staff of the South-Eastern Hospital.
There was 1 death as compared with 3, 2 and 2 in the three preceding
years, giving a death-rate of 0.01 per 1,000 population, as
compared with 0.02 for England and Wales, and 0.02 for the County of
London.
With only one death to record out of 399 cases, it might be said
that Scarlet Fever is becoming almost a respectable disease. It would,
however, be risky to lull oneself into a sense of false security, as the
disease remains an infectious disease—one has just had evidence of
what a missed case can do—and, further, the possibilities of permanent
damage to the kidneys should not be overlooked. I have felt it
necessary to make these observations, as, owing to the fact that the
Metropolitan Asylums Board is wisely making more room for Measles
cases, one or two people are suggesting that as more hospital room