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16
Medical Officers of Health Annual Report.
with priority of application, from whomsoever the appli
cation for removal may come, so that cases which do noi
much threaten the public health are sometimes removec
in preference to those that are a danger.
Diphtheria and
Membranous Croup.
There were 37 deaths from diphtheria,
and nine from membranous croup, 13 being at the
hospitals The number in the two preceding years was
116 and 87, so that there has been a decided fall.
The number of cases notified was 266 diphtheria, and
21 membranous croup. By reference to the table
above, it is seen that there has been a steady
fall since 1893, and that the figures stand about the
same as in 1892. This diminution in the amount of
the disease is very satisfactory, but it is difficult to say to
what especially it is due. The same efforts in the way ol
disinfection and isolation have been made as in previous
years, but no doubt the sanitary condition of the district
is undergoing steady improvement by the constant removal
of nuisances, drainage defects, &c., which must have its
effect on the prevalence of diphtheria "With regard
to isolation, 120 patients were removed to the isolation
hospitals, a per centage of 45*2 of the total cases. There
was in diphtheria also a difficulty in obtaining removal
owing to the beds being all occupied. The appended chart
shows the number of monthly notifications of the disease.
The fewest were in February, viz., nine, and the largest in
July, viz., 37. There was a fall to 21 in August, and to
12 in September. This may have had some connection
with the holiday time. The proportion of cases removed
to hospital was higher than in 1894, when it was 37*9 per
cent. There has been a greater diminution in the amount of
diphtheria in this district than in the Metropolis generally,
where the total number of deaths fell only from 2670 in
1894 to 2316 in 1895.
Enteric Fever.
The deaths were 26, as against 21 in