View report page

125
Nevertheless the figures reported from schools do indicate the trend of infectious
disease in the child community, and are the only available figures for diseases which are
not notifiable to the borough medical officer of health. For example, during 1952, an
epidemic of german measles was starting when the schools reopened after the Christmas
holidays. The peak was reached towards the end of March, when over 2,000 cases a
week were reported. The outbreak tailed off very gradually and over 100 cases a week
were still being reported during July.
Diphtheria
outbreak at
St. Michael's
School,
N.W.i
At the end of October and during the first half of November four cases of diphtheria
were notified as having occurred among the pupils attending this school. Swabs had
been taken and these showed the presence of C. diphtheriae though apparently only one
case showed actual clinical signs of the disease—slight membrane formation. One of
the cases was rediagnosed as tonsillitis and discharged home from hospital. On 18th
November a medical officer visited the school and took swabs from the nose and throat
of 26 selected pupils and four staff. As a result one carrier was discovered; he had recently
been absent with a ' cold ' and showed ' unhealthy mucous membrane of the nose.' It
was decided that all other pupils attending the school and also the staff should be swabbed.
This work occupied seven sessions and in all 185 swabs were taken from the children
and 17 from the staff. It was found that seven pupils were carriers of C. diphtheriae
(intermedins type) six of them being virulent. These carriers were at once excluded from
school and sent to their own doctors for treatment, and some of them were sent to
hospital by their doctors. While it was not possible to say exactly how this rather
indefinite epidemic began, it is possible that it may have had some connection with the
fact that one of the school carriers lived in the same house as a young woman who had
come from Cyprus about two months previously, and who was removed to hospital
at the beginning of December, suffering from diphtheria. As a result of all these activities
there was an increase in the number of children immunised against diphtheria at this
school, and the percentage of these rose from about 74 to 84. There were no further
cases reported after the beginning of January, 1953, and all the carriers were permitted
to return to school.

As would be expected with a smaller number of cases, the percentage of severe
cases remains high since the less severe cases can be dealt with elsewhere :