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14
Sickness.
Diphtheria.—The London curve for 1912 followed that of the averages very closely. The
dip during the summer holidays is marked in both curves.
The high levels seen in the Paddington curve of 1912 in the first and second quarters were
due to the notification of "carrier" cases. In the third and fourth quarters the two curves are
fairly in agreement. The dips associated with the summer holidays can be seen in both curves.
Table 7 affords a comparison between the morbidity rates for last year and the mean (1907-11)
rates in the Metropolis and the districts immediately adjacent to the Borough and between the
local rates and those for the other districts. As the data on which the rates for the Borough
have been calculated have been extracted from tables in the Registrar-General's Quarterly
Reports, differences will be noted from the rates given in Table 6. In the whole Metropolis
puerperal fever was the only disease with a morbidity rate (342 per 1,000 births registered) in
excess of the mean (2.31). Similar excesses are to be noted in Paddington, Kensington,
Westminster, and St. Marylebone. The 1912 rates from diphtheria were in excess of the mean
rates in Paddington, St. Marylebone, and Hampstead, and those from erysipelas in Paddington,
Westminster, Hampstead, and Willesden. Below is given a summary showing the rates recorded
in the districts included in the table which were above the local rates.
Local Rate (1912). Exceeded by Rates Recorded in
Diphtheria (1.78) Hampstead (l.88).
Erysipelas (0.82) London (0.91).
Scarlet Fever (1.89) London (2.50); St. Marylebone (2.23); Willesden (2.69).
Enteric Fever (0.10) London (0.15); Westminster (0.11); St. Marylebone (0.15);
Hampstead (0.12).
Puerperal Fever (3.96) Westminster (8.96).
In Table 8 the numbers of cases notified from the individual Wards of the Borough during
the six years 1907 to 1912 are set out, and in Table 9 the notifications of diphtheria and scarlet
fever received during each quarter of the past year are compared with the averages (1907-11).
These tables belong properly to this section of the report, but the discussion of their contents
can be postponed with advantage to the sections dealing with the epidemiological characters of
each disease.

(a) Notification in force for part of the year only.
* Rates per 1,000 persons of all ages, except puerperal fever and ophthalmia neonatorum, per 1,000 births
registered locally.