View report page

24
Scarlet Fever.—132 cases of this disease occurred in 1926—a decrease
of 82 on the figures of 1925. The wards showing a marked decrease are
those of St. John and Victoria—the former with 38 and the latter with
21 fewer cases. The disease was contracted mostly by children between
the ages of 3 and 15. There were no deaths. The case rate of this
disease per 1,000 of the population was 0.92, the rate for England and
Wales being 2.10. Of the total cases in Westminster 99 per cent. were
moved to hospital.
Diphtheria.—223 cases of this disease occurred, showing a decrease
of 63 on the figures of 1925. Again the wards showing the decrease are
St. John and Victoria—the former with 18 fewer cases and the latter with
37. At no time was there any semblance of an outbreak during the year,
the closest co-operation having existed between the Council's staff and
that of the London County Council in the following up and swabbing of
contacts of cases already sent to hospital, or of children who were sent
home from school with sore throats. Most of the cases and deaths
occurred in children between the ages of 3 and 15. There were 9 deaths
(5 males and 4 females), giving a rate of 40.3 per 1,000 cases. The
case rate of this disease for Westminster was 1.57 per 1,000 living, and
that of England and Wales 1.31. The death-rate for Westminster was
0.06, and for England and Wales 0.07.
Schick Test and Immunization.—In the foreword to the Annual Report
for 1925 allusion was made to a resolution by the Council to provide
facilities for carrying out this work on behalf of children coming within
the Maternity and Child Welfare Scheme. The test and immunization
had been performed in March, 1925, at the Newport Market School. The
following extract from a special report made to the Public Health
Committee in February, 1926, summarizes the conception regarding the
Schick test held at the time with a résumé of the circumstances which
led to its adoption.
REPORT ON THE PREVENTION OF DIPHTHERIA BY MEANS OF THE
SCHICK TEST AND IMMUNIZATION.
In the late autumn of last year there was an outbreak of diphtheria in the Victoria
Ward, which involved 74 cases and 4 deaths. The occurrence was the subject of a special
report to the Public Health Committee on 17th November last, and in that report it was
suggested that consideration might be given to the adoption of the newer methods of
prevention which are now at our disposal.
This outbreak arose from the presence of a diphtheria carrier, a scholar attending
St. Gabriel's School. The infection spread among the scholars attending the school;
many of those who were susceptible contracted the disease, while some of those who wore
naturally immune, frequently carried the germs in their throats and passed the infection
on to others. The problem of dealing with diphtheria carriers has always presented