View report page

728
Small-Pox.— No case occurred in the Borough. Several
"contacts" were kept under surveillance during May. The risk
of its introduction in face of the many cases occurring from time to
time in and around London is ever-present, and the public are slow
to realise that recent vaccination is the only sure protection. No
vaccinations were performed by the Medical Officer of Health
under the Public Health (Small-Pox Prevention) Regulations, 1917.
Scarlet Fever.— Prevalent but mild; 133 notifications, with
no deaths, a case rate of 2'6 per 1,000 of the population, against a
rate of 2.16 for England and Wales. Because of the general mildness
of type with no significant after-effects, many cases can be safely
nursed at home. And hospital treatment may be reserved for the
rare severe cases, or when home circumstances require removal on
account of overcrowding, or where the work of other members of the
family would suffer, or from proximity to a shop.
The Dick test, and active immunisation have not yet been used.
Diphtheria.— There was a further increase in numbers to 106
notifications with 5 deaths. This gives a case rate of 2.0 per 1,000
of the population, against a rate of 1.33 for England and Wales.
But in any large group of cases a certain proportion of those
notified are not in fact found to be diphtheria after further
examination, which number may be as many as 20 per cent. of
the total number of notifications.
Diphtheria has been increasing in England and Wales during
the past few years, and London has the unenviable reputation of
being amongst the great cities of the world with the highest
Diphtheria case-rate.
The use of anti-toxin in treatment has lowered the deathrate,
but still there is a considerable mortality, and in 1926 there
were nearly 550 deaths in London alone from this disease. About
half those that die are aged under five.
Since treatment, even with the facilities available, still does not
prevent a significant mortality-rate of 6 per cent. (2,994 deaths in