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41
Measles.
Three hundred and thirty-eight cases occurred in the district
during 1950, as against 935 cases for 1949, giving an attack rate of
4.2 per 1,000 population.
Four of these cases were admitted to hospital and the remainder
were home nursed.
The distribution of the cases occurring was fairly even throughout
the area.
The incidence of this disease almost invariably follows a
predictable course, for being so very infectious, the great majority
of those not immunised by a previous attack develop it in a time, of
epidemic. Thus, after a large outbreak we expect to be relatively
free until the next lot of susceptible children become exposed to the
risk of infection when they also will contract measles, thus providing
the next epidemic. The inter-epidemic cases are made up from the
susceptibles who somehow missed being attacked during the epidemic
and from those who contract the disease more than once—an
uncommon occurrence in the case of measles.
The vast majority of cases occurring during 1950 were mild in
character and it does seem that, providing there is good home hygiene
and that very young children are not infected, most of the terrors of
this illness have been overcome. Nevertheless, if carelessness of treatment
of the child infected occurs, there is always danger of complications
arising and these are often followed by prolonged debility.
Whooping Cough.
Four hundred and sixty-one cases were notified during 1950, as
against 230 for 1949, giving an attack rate of 5.8 per 1,000 population.
Fourteen of these cases were admitted to hospital, and there were
no deaths.
There was a rise in the incidence of this disease compared with
the previous year, but it would be incorrect to draw any conclusions
from the number of notifications of an illness which has always shown
inconsistent variations. It is, however, pleasant to be able to record
that, like measles and scarlet fever, this disease appears to be of a
mild type generally speaking at the present time, and what has been
said about measles with reference to hygiene and avoidance of the
disease in very early life, applies very much in this case also.
Immunisation against Whooping Cough is still, unfortunately, in
the experimental stage, and there is no statistical evidence to prove its
efficacy, but one is constantly coming across individuals who are of
the opinion that it saved their own children either from having the
disease at all or, at very least, modified the attack considerably. Such
"evidence" if, of course, inadmissible and as yet immunisation against
whooping cough on a large scale cannot be advocated.