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52
Erysipelas.
33 cases of Erysipelas were notified, '20 male and 13 female,
of whom 9 were admitted to hospital, 8 being to Oldchurch Hospital.
40% of the cases were of persons over 40. Two proved fatal, one a
female aged 72 and one a male aged 7 weeks. The face was affectcd
in 70% of the cases. Nearly CO % of infections occurred in the first
4 months of the year.
Cerebro-Spinal Meningitis.
No eases of Cerebro-spinal Meningitis were notified during the
year.
Poliomyelitis.
A girl aged 8 suffered from poliomyelitis which proved fatal
after an illness of 10 days.
Encephalitis Lethargica.
One notification was received of this infection. This was a
girl aged 5 who suffered from measles on January 18th and was
notified as Encephalitis on the 3lst. She survived the acute stage
but now suffers from mental trouble.
Smallpox.
60 notifications were received of eases of Smallpox during the
year. Of these patients, all but three were unvaccinated or were
vaccinated only some days after exposure to infection. Of the
3 who had previously been vaccinated, all were secondary to cases
occurring in the home. Two of these persons, aged 40 and 52, had
been vaccinated in infancy and one aged 50 had been vaccinated
in 1916.
24 cases were infected outside their homes and gave rise to 32
cases amongst their home contacts. In a large number of cases,
, diagnosis of the secondary case lead to the detection of the
original source, which had frequently been diagnosed as a case of
chicken pox, food poisoning or influenza.
A number of contacts of the primary eases were vaccinated
but too late after exposure to infection to be effective in warding
off the disease.
In a few instances, the source of infection of the primary case
could be traced. Mostly, this was contact with a patient in London.
In a number of eases, however, it was impossible to trace the source.
This is understandable when one realises that so many of the people