View report page

30
which have followed upon miscarriages, many in the
early months of pregnancy. Although it would appear
that such cases should certainly be notified as puerperal
fever, I can safely say that in many districts this rule
is more honoured in the breach than the observance.
I think that this undoubtedly accounts, to a considerable
extent, for the fact that our number of cases of
puerperal fever is generally in excess of that in many
other districts. If we deduct those cases of puerperal
fever which occurred subsequent to miscarriages the
incidence rate of this disease in Fulham would be
reduced from 7.5 per 1,000 births to 3.9 per 1,000
births. The corresponding figure for 1924 was 6.7 and
for 1923, 6.0. The Committee will remember that in
the year 1922, arrangements were made with the Fulham
Board of Guardians whereby medical practitioners could
send to the Fulham Hospital suspicious cases of puerperal
fever without waiting for the diagnosis to be
absolutely certain. This enables such cases to be
brought under effective treatment at the earliest
possible moment, thus giving the patient the best chance
of recovery. It is a recognised fact that the earlier
such cases are thoroughly treated, which in many
instances is impossible in working-class houses, the
better the outlook for the patient. One hopes that
this arrangement may have had something to do with
the fall in the mortality rate from this disease during
the last two years.
Ophthalmia Neonatorum.—Thirty-two infants were
notified as suffering from ophthalmia neonatorum, of
whom 16 were removed to hospital. This total
compares with 27 notifications during 1924 and 22
during 1923.