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32
DIPHTHERIA.
The 109 cases of Diphtheria occurred in 86 houses, 12.of which
were more or less insanitary. The sanitary defects were grave in
five and slight in seven other instances.
Year.
Death-Rate for
Stoke Newington
Rate for
London generally.
Rate for
England and Wales.
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
1906
1907
0.27
0.09
0.13
0.19
0.09
0.08
0.11
0.30
0.25
0.16
0.16
0.12
0.14
0.16
0.27
0.23
0.18
0.17
0.16
0.17
School attendance is either alleged by the parents or surmised
by myself, on good grounds, to be the cause of at least 17 attacks
during the year.
One case of infection was imported into the Borough, and at
least 8 appear to have caught the infection from previous cases. In
several cases it was very clear that a preceding tonsilitis of several
weeks' duration predisposed to an attack of Diphtheria. In 9 cases
there was a history of previous throat trouble, frequently recurring.
Many applications have been made at the office for tubes of
antitoxin, which I store for the convenience of local practitioners.
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 or impossible, and bacteriology alone can solve the difficulty
in many cases. The diagnosis outfits provided by the Council
to the medical practitioners in Stoke Newington continue to be much