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15
SECTION II.—ACUTE INFECTIOUS DISEASES.
1.—GENERAL PREVALENCE.
(a) Notifications.
Among notifiable infectious diseases, scarlet fever and diphtheria
were of unusually low prevalence during the year. The
notifications of scarlet fever were fewer even than in 1923; those for
diphtheria were somewhat higher than in that year. There was a
marked increase in the notifications of pneumonia, from 42 in 1923
to 108 in 1924. Further particulars are set out in the Appendix,
Table V.
(b) Deaths.
8 deaths were recorded from diphtheria, 89 from influenza, 11
from whooping cough, 4 from measles, and 2 from scarlet fever.
Deaths from other infectious diseases are set out in the Appendix,
Table V.
2.—SCARLET FEVER.
Out of a total of 289 cases notified as suffering from scarlet
fever, 237 were admitted to the Borough Hospital or other institutions,
the remaining 5'2 being treated at hime. 22 cases were also
admitted to the hospital from the urban district of Penge, in accordance
with the agreement with that authority.
The disease was in general of a mild type. No deaths occurred
at the Borough Hospital. A total of 2 deaths from scarlet fever
was registered, giving a case mortality of 0.7 per cent.
The average duration of stay of scarlet fever patients in the
Borough Hospital was 43.2 days.
Hospital Return Cases—Scarlet Fever.
4 return cases of scarlet fever were reported, following on the
return home of 3 patients from the Borough Hospital after treatment
for the disease. In 3 other instances in which patients developed
scarlet fever subsequent to the return of a convalescent
patient, enquiry and examination made it clear that the infection
came from another source, and that the returning patient was not
responsible for the infection.
Of the 3 infecting cases, all showed evidence, on examination
at home, of having developed slight nasal discharge after leaving
the hospital, and one showed some excoriation of the nostril associated
with such discharge.