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Scarlet Fever has shown a succession of shallow waves of
incidence with a distinct trend towards an aggregate increase. The
periods of maximum intensity have been in 1924, June and July;
1925, March, April and May; 1926, May, June and July; 1927,
April, May and June; 1928, January and February, with another
in November and December. 1929, a gradual increase throughout
the year without any intermissions. 1930, the incidence was
relatively constant, with a slight decline in the number of cases
in August and September. During 1931, the incidence was fairly
constant, the highest number of cases occurring in January with
a gradual decline as a whole to the end of the year. The weekly
average of cases was 10.5.
Diphtheria.—During 1924 there was a small but steady incidence
throughout the year; in 1925 a trough occurred in the curve
and very few cases were notified, but towards the end of the year
the notifications began to increase steadily, the curve reaching its
apex in November and December, 1926; the curve then declined
through 1927 until the last quarter, when the tend became upwards
once more, reaching its apex in January, 1928, this was followed
by a slight fall, followed by a slight rise until December, 1928,
when another fall commenced, reaching its minimum in July, 1929,
from when the curve rose steadily to its maximum in November.
In 1930 Diphtheria was not troublesome, though there was a small
rise in the number of cases in October, reaching a maximum of 22
during the week ending October 18th. In 1931 the highest number
of cases arose in February and the last two weeks of March. The
highest number of cases in one week was during the week ending
February 14th, when 13 cases were notified. The weekly average
was 4.2.
Whooping Cough, from being inconspicuous in 1924, the
curve rose gradually to a maximum in May, June and July, 1925,
then fell rapidly to a minimum in November and December, then
rose very gradually to a lower maximum in September, 1926; once
again the curve fell abruptly to a minimum in January, 1927, rose
in June and July, and fell again gradually to a minimum in
November and December, then rose steadily to the highest level of
the period under review in January, 1929, from when it fell steadily
to the end of the year. Throughout 1930 it remained quite inconspicuous,
until December when there were indications of the commencement
of a wave of increased incidence which persisted in
1931 until the end of July, after which the number of cases dropped
considerably. December showed a small rise in cases. The
average number of cases brought to our knowledge was two weekly.