View report page

25
In the majority of the above cases the length of time that elapsed
between the discharged patient's home coming and the onset of the
return case was greatly in excess of the incubation period of scarlet
fever. This fact suggests that a recrudescence of infectivity must
have taken place in these cases at varying periods after their discharge
from hospital, and this view is borne out by the occurrence in most
of them of some indication of constitutional disturbance having
taken place within a few days of the return case's failure.
Diphtheria and Membranous Croup. I received notification
of 37 cases during the year, as compared with 46 in 1904.
The cases occurred in 30 streets and 35 houses, and represent an
attack rate of 0.69 per 1,000 of the population. The cases removed
to hospital numbered 20, being 54 per cent. of those notified. There
were 3 deaths, giving a death rate of 0.05 per 1,000, and a fatality
of 8.1 per cent.
It is satisfactory to note that the district maintains its good
record in regard to the incidence of diphtheria. The fatality from
the disease, too, shows a marked improvement on that reported in
the previous year, and now that the Public Health Department is
equipped with a laboratory in which bacterioscopic examinations
can be made of specimens sent by the medical practitioners, an
earlier decision as to the nature of doubtful cases can be arrived at
than would be possible without this valuable aid to diagnosis. It
is hoped that the time saved in this way will enable many patients
to be put under the special treatment that is so necessary in this
disease, at an earlier stage than would otherwise be the case and
that a still lower diphtheria fatality will be the result.
A supply of diphtheria anti-toxin is kept at the Town Hall for
the use of medical practitioners.
Puerperal Fever. Three cases of this disease were notified
during the year, two of them terminating fatally. On the receipt of
a notification of puerperal fever the case is immediately investigated
and the facts communicated to the County Medical Officer, who, if