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17
Since 1903, not a single year has passed without a death
from Measles, although the death-rate in 1905 was only 8 per
100,000 inhabitants.
This altered behaviour of Measles is probably accounted
for by the altered character of the district. Formerly it was
a detached suburb. Now it is a part of London, and the
opportunities for the introduction of a children's ailment from
other districts are more frequent than formerly. The population
is also of a more shifting" character, and the percentage of
protected and unprotected children is not so uniform as it
used to be.
It is almost certain that we had to deal with two separate
outbreaks during the year. The first outbreak was limited to
a few cases, and the introduction of the disease into the
district can be traced with a fair degree of definiteness.
A case of Measles, N. S., was notified from the South
Acton Infants' School on December 16th, 1908. The child
had been ill since December 11th, and the rash had appeared
on December 14th.
N. S. used to live in Bollo Bridge Road but had recently
moved. In the same house at Bollo Bridge Road was another
child, D. J., aged 14 months. D.J. attended the out-patients
department of the Paddington Green Children's Hospital on
November 19th. At the time, Measles was prevalent in the
Western Boroughs of the Administrative County of London.
D. J. exhibited symptons of Measles on November 28th,
and the rash appeared on December 3rd. The disease was of
a severe type and the child died on December 5th.
As stated above, N. S. was notified on December 16th and
inquiries made amongst children absent from school revealed
two more cases. The infection could in all cases be traced to
the case D.J. Two classes in the school were affec ted, and
the three children above referred to had attended when
suffering from the initial symptoms of Measles. The first crop