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modern conditions. As this matter is being
taken up and will presumably be considered by the
Ministry of Health in due course, there would seem
to be little point in discussing it further here.
I would merely mention, once again, the anomaly
which exists in regard to scarlet fever. As has
been said, it is thoroughly illogical that a legal
distinction continues to be drawn between a
streptococcal infection which includes a rash,
i,e. scarlet fever, and a streptococcal infection
which does not include a rash It may be that
until everyone concerned is completely satisfied
that the present mild form of scarlet fever is here
to stay - and this is by no means certain - notification
should continue. On the other hand, one
cannot see why notification should be necessary so
long as scarlet fever retains its present mild form,
since steps could be very quickly taken to reintroduce
notification of scarlet fever if and when there was any
indication that its virulence had changed. In
the meantime, we continue to carry out the instructions
which govern the notification of infectious diseases
so far as lies within our power. The fact that
quite a number of especially mild cases of scarlet
fever never seem to come to our notice, and the fact
that an even greater number of cases of food poisoning
and dysentery never even reach the doctor's surgery,
does not seem to have made any appreciable impact
upon the occurrence or spread of these diseases.
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