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Measles was very prevalent in April and May, 1924, then
dropped suddenly, but showed a small rebound during September,
October and November, after when it died away until a sudden rise
in May, June and July, 1925, was followed, after a fall, by a
further and more prolonged rise from October, 1925, to May, 1926.
During 1927 there was very little Measles in Croydon ; a small rise
in October, November and December, however, heralded a very
big incidence of cases—the highest during the period under review
—during the first six months of 1928. Practically no cases occurred
after this exacerbation, until March, 1929, but during this month,
and April, May and June, 1929, a number of cases occurred from
when the incidence dropped away until the end of the year.
Another wave of considerable intensity commenced abruptly during
the last week of February, 1930, reaching its maximum in the
second week of March and dying away gradually until terminating
at the end of June. During 1931, Measles was quite inconspicuous
; the highest number of cases coming to our notice being
in the middle of May and the end of April. The measles waves
therefore were as follows: the first half of 1924, the second half
of 1925, and first quarter of 1926 ; first half of 1928, the first half
of 1929 and the first half of 1930. The characteristics of the
Measles curves were their abrupt rises and rather less abrupt falls.
Chicken Pox.—A small wave of cases occurred during the first
half of 1924, followed by a higher wave covering the last quarter
nf 1924 and the first half of 1925 ; another irregular wave was
experienced during the first half of 1926, followed by a secondary
in the last quarter. During 1927 and 1928 there was a fairly high
and steady incidence with a peak in October and November, 1927.
Another wave came during the latter half of 1929 with its maximum
in December ; this wave continued into 1930, gradually declining to
a minimum at the end of July. Another wave commenced in
November and continued until the end of the year. During 1931
Chicken Pox was prevalent until the end of June, when the number
of cases declined and remained low until November when the
rases again rose.
Mumps occurred in a series of waves from 1924 to 1928 inclusive,
but was not at all prevalent in 1929. In 1930, however,
a rather severe incidence was noted throughout the first half of the
year. In 1931, there was an irregular and gradual decline throughout
the year from a maximum in January and February. The
waves showed their maxima in March, 1924; May, 1925; March,
926, May, 1927 ; March, 1928 and May, 1930, and their minima
in September, 1924; September, 1925; September, 1926; and
September, 1927.