View report page

55
Pemphigus Neonatorum.
No cases were reported during the year.
Measles.
Two hundred and twenty-nine notifications were received
during 1954 as against one thousand and ninety-seven for 1953.
One of these cases was admitted to hospital and the remainder
home nursed.
There were no deaths from this disease in the area.
What has been said of scarlet fever with regard to its severity
might well be repeated in the case of measles, but there the
similarity ends. In the case of measles we still get large outbreaks
occurring usually in alternate years, that is to say when a large
number of non-immune children are congregated at school. In
other words, in the year following an epidemic, there are normally
too few susceptibles left in the schools to allow of an outbreak, in
view of the fact that one attack of measles usually confers a life
long immunity.
Whooping Cough.
Two hundred and twenty-three notifications of this disease
were received during 1954 as against four hundred and forty-eight
in 1953.
Seven of these cases were removed to hospital and the
remainder home nursed.
No deaths from this disease were recorded in the Urban
District.
In this case also, we seem to be facing a problem of diminishing
severity although it may well be that improved methods of
treatment are largely responsible, but here again the improved
stamina of the children may be a likely factor in the severity
of the disease. The value of immunisation against this illness is
still a controversial point and although many doctors and parents
are convinced of its efficacy at least in mitigating the effects of the
disease, it has not yet received universal approval.
Food Poisoning.
Seventeen cases of food poisoning or suspected food poisoning
were notified by doctors and in all twenty-one persons came under
supervision. Detailed investigations were made, which in most
cases involved examination of specimens collected from patients
and of food alleged to be the cause of the illness.
In only five cases was food poisoning actually confirmed, each
of these being due to salmonella organisms. Two of these persons
were in one family, the other three being isolated cases.
The great majority of these illnesses were of short duration
and no deaths were reported.