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19
The District Death Rate over this period for Scarlet Fever is 2.4 percent.
The Hospital „ „ „ ,, 2.2 ,,

The District Death Rate over this period for Diphtheria is 12.7 per cent.
The Hospital „ „ „ „ 15.4 „ „
It must be borne in mind that in the vast majority of Diphtheria
cases, patients are not sent to Hospital until they are in a very
advanced stage of the disease, so that comparison between percentage
of deaths inside and outside the Hospital walls is not fair unless due
weight is given the above fact.
PERMANENT ISOLATION HOSPITAL.
A Sub-Committee was nominated this year with a view to visiting
several Hospitals in our neighbourhood in order to decide upon the
best plans to be adopted when building our own Hospital. As a
result of their deliberations plans have now been drawn up by the
Surveyor, Mr. W. Dawson, and for the moment this important matter
lies in abeyance. It is noteworthy that a great diversity of opinion
exists among medical authorities nowadays as to the advisability of
erecting expensive isolation Scarlet Fever Hospitals, as the benefit to
be derived from a costly edifice is considered to be not quite proportionate
to the outlay involved. It is my opinion this District cannot
possibly do without accommodation of this sort, especially when one
ponders for a moment over the chief class of resident in our midst.
For example, if a case of scarlet fever occurs in the house of an
employe of the G.E.R. Works he is debarred from going to work for
at least 6 weeks. If a Hospital was at his elbow he would be able to
resume work in less than a week. This single example suffices to
show the immense utility of a Hospital in a district teeming with an
artisan and labourer class population.