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There were received seven notifications of encephalitis lethargica; one
referred to a soldier who was suffering from the effects of the complaint which
he had at least four years ago.
A short summary of the other cases is as follows:—
Female, age 22.—Headache for 2 months, " vacant" for one week,
delirium, death in 3 months.
Male, 9 months.—Sickness, stupor, squint.
Male, 15 years.—Influenza, followed by diplopia.
Male, 37 years.— „ „ „
Male, 19 years.—Headache, weakness, stupor. Notified 9 months
after onset.
Female, 26 years.—Head pains, weary and sleepy. Notified 3 months
after onset.
There is no doubt that the onset, in some cases, is extremely insidious,
and the real nature of the disease is not recognised for some time—in one of
the above cases it was nine months! At the end of that time he presented
the typical Parkinsonian syndrome—-physical weakness, fixed attitude and
immobile features.
There were no cases of small-pox notified during the year. A few contacts
of cases occuring in other districts resided in Edmonton, and these were personally
kept under observation until the incubation period had elapsed.
No vaccinations were performed by the Medical Officer of Health under
the Public Health (Small-pox Prevention) Regulations, 1917.
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