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definite advance has as yet been made to make a comprehensive survey of the
whole district. With the appointment of a new Assistant Medical Officer of
Health, investigations can be more thoroughly made to cope with what is now
recognised as a very important function in Public Health administration.
Section F.
PREVALENCE OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE.
The non-notifiable illnesses were not much in evidence during the year.
It is well known that children who suffer from these diseases are very
prone to antemia and chest troubles with a tendency to tuberculosis, and it
will be a great boon to such when the open-air school will have begun to
function in Edmonton.
Severe cases of measles or of whooping cough, and more particularly when
the environment is unsatisfactory, are received into the Isolation Hospital.
The incidence of diphtheria was somewhat higher than last year, although
following a localised outbreak associated with a Tottenham school, which
proved to be rather virulent, very few notifications were received during the
l.ast six months of 1935.
Scarlet Fever was in evidence in a mild form throughout the whole of the
year, and in many instances the disease was so slight as to render it difficult
to diagnose.
Return cases numbered eleven, allowing an interval of 28 days between a
child coming home from the Hospital and an inmate of the house going down
with scarlet fever.
Smallpox.
No cases of smallpox were notified during the year.
Enteric Fever.
As previously mentioned there was a sporadic outbreak of this disease in
various parts of the district during the year. The separate occurrence of
this disease did not appear to have any common factor, which made investigation
exceedingly difficult. In a few instances the serum of the patients was
agglutinated with B.Abortus, and gave a positive result in a fairly slight
dilution.