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32
Scarlet Fever.
The number of cases notified was 124 as compared with 244 during the previous
year. Sixteen cases were not subsequently confirmed. The actual number of cases was
therefore 108. One death occurred.
Return Cases.—This term is applied to cases of Scarlet Fever which occur in a house
within 28 days of the return from hospital of a previous case. There was only one such case
during the year.
Multiple cases in one house—that is, several cases occurring more or less together—are
not as frequent as one might expect. In 3 families there were two such cases.
Cases of scarlet fever are not admitted to hospital, except at the request of the Medical
Officer of Health on grounds of clinical severity or where home conditions make it impossible
to retain the patient at home. Some preference may be given to children under 5 years of
age.
Smallpox and Vaccination.
There was no case of smallpox in the borough during the year 1947, though I was called
upon to give a second opinion on several occasions where the diagnosis was doubtful.
The primary duty of the Vaccination Officer is to secure the vaccination of St. Pancras
children, whether born in the borough or outside, but the duties also consist in securing that
appropriate information regarding ex-St. Pancras children born in the borough is conveyed to
Vaccination Officers of other districts, to secure that the benefits of vaccination are conferred
under the Vaccination Acts.