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33
As to Diphtheria, Anti-toxin as a prophylactic, my experience
has been a little unlucky. I gave 2000 units and in fourteen days
the child was in hospital with a severe and usual Diphtheritic
attack. In other cases, however, no such result has occurred and I
can only trace half-a-dozen cases in which it has been done in the
district.
In every case a searching enquiry has been made into the
circumstances attending the outbreak of the disease, with the
following results :
Cases occurring during 1905 in new
houses built during the past 5 years. 31
Number of cases in which the water
was not derived from the main, but 29
from a cistern. from wells 2
Number of different milk supplies Condensed milk (different
brands 48
different Milksellers 23
Number of houses in which Sani
tary defects were found. 30 1 case of overcrowding.
It is very remarkable how often it is that cases of Diphtheria
crop up in new streets. Practically 30 per cent. last year came
under this heading. Almost the same percentage derived their
water from a storage cistern. I examined the water from those
cistern in many cases, but never found it appreciably contaminated.
With regard to milk supply, the cases presented no relation to
any particular supply or description of milk, but were distributed
about fairly amongst all the milk sellers of the district, including
the condensed milk retailers.
Sanitary defects were looked for in every case and discovered
in 20 ; and one case of rather bad overcrowding was dealt with.