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called in only where the illness seemed urgently to demand his help,
and, in cases of apparently slight indisposition, when pressed by the
School Attendance Officer, the parents have let the children return
to school rather than incur the expense of a medical certificate on
one hand or the risk of prosecution for non-attendance on the other.
Circumstances like these may be but temporary and due to the lack
of employment that has prevailed in Edmonton throughout the year,
but their presence constitutes a serious difficulty in the administration
of preventive measures and is, indeed, a source of
considerable danger.
Diphtheria and Membraneous Croup. I received
notification of 46 cases during the year as compared with 19 in the
preceding year. The cases occurred in 33 streets and in 39 houses,
and represent an attack rate of 0-86 per 1,000 of the population.
The cases removed to hospital numbered 23, being 50 per cent, of
those notified. There were 10 deaths from the disease, giving a
death rate of 0-18 per 1,000, and a fatality of 21-7 per cent. This
is a higher percentage than might be expected in a locality like this,
where diphtheria has not assumed an epidemic form. It may be
accounted for by the fact that medical aid was not obtained in many
of the cases until the disease was far advanced, and the benefit to be
derived from the administration of anti-toxin had much diminshed.
A supply of diphtheria anti-toxin is kept at the Town Hall for the
use of medical practitioners in those cases where its administration
is a matter of urgency. On only two occasions during the year has
the arrangement been made use of.
Puerperal Fever. Only one case was notified, and there
were no deaths.
Erysipelas. 74 cases were notified, 5 of which occurred in the
Edmonton Union Infirmary. All the remaining cases were from
separate houses. There were 5 deaths, one in an infant under one
year of age. The fatality was 67 per cnt., and the death rate
0.09 per 1,000.