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41
SCARLET FEVER.—During 1925, 53 cases of Scarlet Fever were
notified, 26 males and 27 females, and 42 were removed to hospital.
No deaths occurred. The age distribution of those attacked is as
follows :
0-1 1-2 2 3 3-4 4 6 5-10 10-15 15-25 25-45 45-65
005 0 3 26 11 5 2 1
This is the fourth year in succession without a death from this
disease. One death occurred in 1921; the patient was in the
seventh week of Scarlet Fever and developed Tubercular Meningitis,
which proved fatal. With this exception, which cannot be wholly
attributed to Scarlet Fever, there are five consecutive years without
a death from this disease in Beckenham.
This is not a record in the history of Scarlet Fever. I find on
reviewing the records that amongst an almost similar number of
cases notified during the years 1901 to 1904 no death occurred.
There is no doubt, however, that the disease is now much milder
than formerly, and a survey of the returns since 1891 confirms this.
During the decade 1891 to 1900, 765 notified cases gave 20 deaths,
the following decade 782 cases gave 6 deaths, in the decade 1911 to
1920, 619 cases gave 6 deaths, and the last five years 350 cases gave
1 death.
It will be noted that although the death rate has fallen that the
number of cases still remains high; in this connection due allowance
should be made for the increase in population from 20,705 in 1891
to 33,850 in 1925.
Return Cases.- Frequent reference has been made in past
reports to these cases and the measures adopted to prevent infection
by those discharged from the Fever Hospital. The following
Table gives the number of return cases over the years mentioned.
The figures for 1915 to 1918 are not available.