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DIPHTHERIA.
The 91 cases of Diphtheria occurred in houses, 22 of which were
more or less insanitary. The sanitary defects were grave in 10 and
slight in 12 instances.
School attendance is either alleged by the parents or surmised
by myself, on good grounds, to be the cause of 3 attacks during the
year.
Three cases of the infection were imported into the Borough. In
several cases it was very clear that a preceding tonsilitis of several weeks
duration predisposed to an attack of Diphtheria. In six cases the
attack was preceded by "sore-throat" in other members of the
family. The infection appears to have been contracted outside of the
Borough in two instances. In no less than 20 cases there was a
history of previous throat trouble frequently recurring.
In many of the cases I was unable to trace the origin of the
disease in any satisfactory manner ; that is to say, after carefully
ascertaining all the facts, the origin of the infection could only be
conjectured, and it was impossible to do more.
Each year adds to the testimony of the efficacy of Antitoxin in
this disease, and many applications have been made at the office for
tubes which I store for the convenience of local practitioners.
When a case of Diphtheria occurs in a house where there are
young children, not only should resort be had to Antitoxin as a
Prophylactic, but all the children that have been exposed to the disease
should be given small doses of the remedy.
In this disease the spread of the infection (and by consequence
the mortality) are largely due to the unfortunate circumstance
that the early diagnosis of the disease from clinical symptoms is
frequently difficult and impossible, and Bacteriology alone can solve
the difficulty in many cases. The Diagnosis outfits provided by the
Council during the year to the medical practitioners in Stoke
Newington continue to be much appreciated. Every practitioner has
been kept supplied with such an outfit, and has thus had at his
disposal the means of procuring a bacteriological diagnosis of both