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21
In last year's annual report a history was given of the
cases of Measles which had occurred in the district during the
last quarter of 1910.
In October and November, 1910, isolated cases occurred
in the northern part of the district. When the cases occurred
amongst school children during these two months, the symptoms
in all instances made their appearance towards the week end,
and the children had not attended school subsequently to the
appearance of the initial symptoms of Measles.
In December a case occurred in the Priory School. This
child attended a class in which most of the members were
unprotected, and the child was in attendance after the appearance
of the initial symptoms The school was closed for the
Christmas holidays before the "first crop" fell. A list of the
children who had been in contact with the first case was
obtained, and they were visited during the holidays. It was
ascertained that 13 oases had occurred between December 12th
and January 9th, the date of the opening of the schools.
No further cases occurred in the Priory Schools until after
the Easter holidays.
It was hoped that by the adoption of these methods an
epidemic would have been delayed, at any rate, for some
months, and the postponement of an epidemic from the winter
to the summer would have justified almost any steps, however
drastic.
In industrial districts a Measles epidemic is in many ways
a less formidable occurrence in the summer than in the
winter. Apart from the increased severity of the initial symptoms,
the liability to lung complications is much greater in the
winter than in the summer.