View report page

11
susceptible to an attack, but a larger number of children will, when
the epidemic arrives, have reached ages at which the disease is
little fatal.
It is generally conceded that the attendance of a child at
school whilst suffering from the initial symptoms of the disease is
usually the starling point ofan epidemic, and unless "preventive
measures are taken before the fall of the first crop, the chances of
preventing or controlling an epidemic are remote. In the past,
very seldom did information of the first case reach the Sanitary
Department, and the first intimation received usually referred to
the absence of about a dozen children from school on account of
Measles. When inquiries were made it was elicited that our
earliest information referred to the first crop, and that a case had
occurred about a fortnight previously, but had passed unnoticed.
In the hope of obtaining information of the earliest cases (as
well as for other reasons), the compulsory notification of Measles
has been tried in several towns. In the Annual Report for 1906,
the experience of Aberdeen and Burton-on-Trent was given. In
both these towns compulsory notification was tried, and in neither
place could the result be deemed satisfactory. The reason is not far
to seek. The notification was probably of an incomplete character.
Measles is not regarded by the public as a serious disease, and in
many instances a doctor is not called in to attend the child.
Last year in Acton, 337 cases were inquired into, and it was ascertained
that 198 of these were attended by a doctor. In 1907, 390
cases were investigated, and of these 191 were treated by a doctor.
Roughly speaking, in this district, about one-third of the Measles
cases are not attended by a doctor.
If compulsory notification were adopted, it would take many
years before any considerable number of those unattended by a
doctor would be notified. For the same reason, early knowledge of
the first cases would not invariably be obtained through the agency
of the Infectious Diseases Notification Act.
In view of the experience gained by those towns that have placed
Measles amongst the compulsory notifiable diseases, it appears that
guccess is more probable along other paths more especially in a