View report page

60 Medical Officers of Health Annual Report.
Diphtheria.
During the year Diphtheria was very much
less prevalent in the parish than during the
last two years. The epidemic which prevailed during
the last three months of 1896 and during January, 1897,
soon died down, and the disease has been becoming
gradually less prevalent ever since. There were only
20 cases notified to me, and of these, 12 were removed
to hospital. This compares very favourably with the
two former years when 49 and 46 cases were notified.
Six cases ended fatally. This is equivalent to a percentage
mortality of 30.
The death-rate from Diphtheria per thousand living
of the population was .27. This figure compares favourably
with the death-rate from the whole of London,
which was .39 per 1,000.
One case was notified under the head of Membranous
Croup, and it resulted fatally.
Typhoid Fever.
Seven cases of this disease were notified
through the year, witli two cases of death.
Measles and
Whooping Cough.
Twenty-nine cases of death resulted from
these two diseases, which is equal to a
tality of 1*3 per 1,000 of the population This is the
highest mortality during the last ten years, with the
exception of 1896, and is slightly in excess of that of
the whole of London. A very violent epidemic of
measles raged during the months of April and May,
Unfortunately the existence of these diseases in epidemic
form may not become known to me for some time
after the outbreak on account of them not being notifiable
diseases under the Act. It seems to me that much
more could be done if the Medical Officers of Health
were made aware of the existence of these diseases