View report page

20
was .02. A number of cases and of deaths occurred amongst the military, the
infection having been acquired abroad or elsewhere beyond the boundaries of the
Borough.
None of the cases amongst the civil population calls for comment. The
distribution was as follows : St. John, 2; St. Mary, Christ Church and All Souls,
each 3. The deaths occurred 1in All Souls and 1 in Christ Church.
Paratyphoid Fever, a condition in some respects resembling enteric fever, but
due to a different germ, was notified on one occasion. A certain number of certificates,
indicating that soldiers who had recovered from one or other of these diseases were
to be discharged to this district, were received.
CEREBRO SPINAL (SPOTTED) FEVER..
There were 10 cases notified and 5 deaths. In 5 instances death had occurred
before receipt of the notification.
Except in one instance in which a mother and two children were taken ill at or
about the same time, all the cases were single, and so far as could be made out no
spread of infection took place from them.
The first notification of the disease in 1915 came to hand on 1st March, and the
total number for that month was 3 ; in April 2 cases were notified; in May and
June 1; and in November 3.
Of the patients 5 were males and 5 females : 4 were adults and the remainder
children. The youngest patient was aged only 4 months, the eldest 44 years.
The ages of those who died were: 4 months, 24, 6, 24 and 44 years.
Careful examination of the premises did not reveal any special overcrowding or
lack of cleanliness; as a matter of fact, it is noteworthy that only 2 of the cases
occurred in the poorest and most overcrowded neighbourhoods.
In only two instances was it possible to form anything like a definite opinion as
to the source of infection. In one the child was believed to have been infected from
the grandfather with whom he slept, and who was proved to be a carrier; in another
that already referred to, in which a mother and two children were attacked together,
the father and grandfather were found to be carriers, and suspicion fell upon the
father who was a soldier and had been home on leave for a few days before the first
patient, a baby 4 months old, took ill and died. Death in this case took place within
24 hours of the appearance of the first symptoms. The mother and the other child
recovered, although the attack seemed fairly severe.
In most of the cases in which death occurred before notification was received,
the course was very short.