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Diphtheria immunisation is worthy of an extensive trial. The procedure
has already gained wide acceptance in the United States of America; other
countries nearer home, such as Germany, France and Belgium are immunising
their children in this way. In these islands it has proved its worth as a means
of preventing diphtheria in hospital nurses and in stamping out diphtheria in
institutions where the disease has been present for a considerable time and has
given rise to case after case. The Edinburgh statistics relating to school children
are, to say the least, very encouraging. The control of smallpox obtained by
vaccination is so complete that progressive members of the medical profession
have been stimulated to obtain a similar control of other infectious diseases
including not only diphtheria, but also scarlet fever and measles, and the measure
of success already obtained in controlling diphtheria warrants further effort.
Less Diphtheria in Holborn than in London.
The following table shows the diphtheria notification rates in England and
Wales, London, and Holborn during the seven years 1922-28. As the Schick test
and immunisation against diphtheria were started in Holborn in the early part of
1922 the figures are of interest: —

The figures for England and Wales and London are taken from the Registrar-General's
Statistical Reviews for the years 1922-28.
Scarlet Fever.
There were 130 notifications of scarlet fever. All but two were removed to
hospital.
Seven cases were returned as not suffering from scarlet fever; one was found to be
suffering from, erythema, three from German measles, one from lobar pneumonia, and in two
no obvious disease was found.