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116
Medical Officers of Health Annual Report.
sore-throat should be immediately isolated, and that when
possible a bacteriological examination should be made.
Immediate notification should be made to the Medical
Officer of Health, not only of cases where the symptoms are
on the first examination definite, but also in all cases which
are at all suspicious. These measures would ensure the
exclusion of all infected children from school, and this is,
in my opinion, the most important etiological factor in the
dissemination of Diphtheria in urban localities, and
especially in the Metropolis.
In the whole parish 35 notifications of Diphtheria
were received in the month of February, 70 in March
and only 7 in April, showing that by the end of March,
as an epidemic, the disease had ceased, although sporadic
cases still occurred.
Membranous
Croup.
Four notifications were received and one
death occurred. Most of the cases of
Membranous Croup are now notified as Diphtheria.
The total case mortality from Diphtheria and Membranous
Croup was 20.2 per cent, while in 1896 this
was 13 per cent., and in 1895, 15.5 per cent.
For the Metropolis the case mortality for the year
was 17 per cent., compared with 19.2 per cent. in 1896,
and 20.4 in 1895.
Enteric Fever. 37 cases were notified and four deaths resulted,
while in 1896, 22 cases were notified and
4 deaths also occurred. 16 of these were removed to
hospital where one died, and 21 were treated at home with
three deaths.
In this parish, for the year the proportion of cases
of Enteric Fever notified per 1,000 of population was .6,
while in the Metropolis this rate was .69.