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52
Diphtheria.—Although the total number of cases of diphtheria
shows an increase compared with the previous year, 71 cases being
notified compared with 54, the number is less than in the years
1929, 1930 and 1931. Besides, the occurrence of cases of this
disease within the Borough continues to be well below that experienced
in the rest of the country. The diphtheria case-rate for
Ealing of 0.55 per thousand of population is less than half of the
case-rate of 1.18 for England and Wales. Table VI indicates the
cases as they occurred in the different months of the year and
from this table it will be seen that very few cases indeed occurred
in the first four months of the year, while the highest number of
cases, 12, occurred in the month of August, although, as a general
rule, infectious disease tends to be less prevalent in this month
when the schools are closed.
During the year there occurred seven deaths which give a
death-rate of 0.05 per thousand of population and a mortality
rate of 9.86 per cent, of cases notified. The death-rate for Ealing
is slightly below that for England and Wales, which is 0.06 per
thousand of population. All seven deaths were of females, five
occurring after admission to the Chiswick and Ealing Isolation
Hospital, one after a patient had been nursed at home for a period
of six weeks and one occurring in an institution outside the district.
Several of these deaths have demonstrated the calamitous
results of delay in administering anti-toxin. They have also
pointed out in no uncertain way the dire consequences of delay
in diagnosis. Doctors have apparently not all learnt the lesson
that it is dangerous to wait for the result of the swab and that
it is imperative to treat every suspicious case of diphtheria in the
only way which gives the patient every chance of recovery, namely,
by the immediate administration of anti-toxin. Every opportunity
has been taken to urge medical practitioners to administer antitoxin
to suspicious cases. A new method of drawing the attention
of local doctors to this important matter has been adopted recently
by enclosing a leaflet with every swab outfit issued from
the Council's pathological laboratory. This leaflet emphasises
the importance of the early treatment of suspicious cases of
diphtheria and reminds medical practitioners that a free supply
of anti-toxin may be obtained from the Public Health Department
for all patients whose home circumstances are poor.