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34
Infectious Diseases.
The total number of cases of infectious diseases
notified during the year was 2,199, compared with
3,258 for the year 1924, 3,608 for the year 1923 and
4,388 for the year 1922. Towards this total of 2,199
measles contributed 589.
It will be noticed that there is a very considerable
drop in the number of notifications as compared with
the three previous years, the drop as compared with
the year 1924 being over 1,000 cases. This is accounted
for almost entirely by measles, the notifications
of which fell from 1,692 in 1924 to 589 in 1925.
The gains and losses in the other diseases as compared
with the year 1924 are almost negligible, the
figures for the two years being approximately the same.
There are perhaps two exceptions which might be
noted. In the. first place it is satisfactory that the
notifications of encephalitis lethargica fell from 21
in 1924 to 10 in 1925. This fall of 50 per cent, is
the more welcome in this disease as it is one of extreme
gravity, having a case mortality of round about 40
to 50 per cent. The other disease to which attention
should be drawn is epidemic diarrhoea which has produced
70 notifications during 1925, compared with 40
during 1924. This was accounted for very largely by
an outbreak in the early months of the year, a somewhat
unusual occurrence and one which I deal with
later in this report in detail.
It should, however, be stated that although the
figure for epidemic diarrhoea for this year is 70 compared
with 40 for the previous year, the figure for 1923 was
79.
Full particulars of all notifiable infectious diseases
arranged according to disease, ward and age will be
found in Table IV, page 41.
In connection with Diphtheria and Scarlet Fever,
I have had special note made during the year as to