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85
Measles was very prevalent throughout the district in
the early part of the year and occasioned considerable mortality
throughout the country. It is peculiarly troublesome to deal
with in schools on account of the difficulty of diagnosing the
disease in its early stages. What appears to be an ordinary
"cold" is often the onset of Measles, the characteristic rash
appearing about the fourth day of the disease. It thus frequently
happens that a whole class is infected by the patient
with the supposed "cold" before the true nature of the case
is made apparent. School closure is more frequently
required for Measles than any other disease and on
account of the greater danger of the complaint among young
children one hesitates less in the Infants' Department than
others. For various reasons school closure is often quite ineffectual
in controlling the spread of Measles, and whether it
is worth while resorting to it in any particular case depends
upon many circumstances, which have to be carefully weighed
by the Medical Officer advising closure.
Scarlet Fever became unduly prevalent in the northern
part of the district in the latter part of the year. There was
a considerable incidence of the disease amongst the children of
Albert Street Schools, and, to a less extent, Christ Church.
The cases were extremely mild, and to this very fact was
largely due the spread of the disease. Scarlet Fever possesses
two features which render it difficult to control: (1) The
liability of mild cases to be missed altogether or only detected
in the "peeling" stage; and (2) in some cases the
patients remain infectious for considerable periods after they
have to all appearance completely recovered. At present we
have no bacteriological means of detecting these cases, as the
germ of Scarlet Fever is undiscovered.
The schools were visited daily by myself or the Nurse; the
Teachers and Attendance Officers rendered most valuable
assistance.