View report page

85
INCIDENCE OF COMPLICATIONS AMONG SCARLET
FEVER PATIENTS IN RELATION TO OVERCROWDING
OF HOSPITAL WARDS.
Report by Dr. F. W. Gavin.
During the year 1935 the total number of eases admitted to the
Leyton Isolation Hospital diagnosed as scarlet fever was 200:
131 males and 129 females.
Three of these 260 cases were discharged from hospital as
definitely not scarlet fever. In the remaining 257 cases the original
diagnosis of scarlet fever was confirmed.
Of the 257 cases, 133 (51.75 per cent.) suffered from one or
more complications either on admission or during their stay in
hospital. Forty-four cases had one or more complications on admission
to hospital and 17 of these developed other complications after
admission and during their stay in hospital. Thus 27 cases with
complications present on admission must be subtracted from our
total of 133 cases, giving a total of 100 cases developing complications
in hospital, i.e., 41.24 per cent.
The average stay in hospital of the 260 admissions was 37 days.
Of the 133 complicated cases, OS were males (51.90 per cent. of
males admitted) and 05 were females (50.38 per cent. of females
admitted).
Age of Incidence.
Seventy of the complicated cases (52.63 per cent.) were aged
5 years or under.
Overcrowding of Scarlet Fever Wards in Leyton Isolation
Hospital.
Overcrowding of the Scarlet Fever Wards was most marked
during the early months of the year 1935, viz., January to March .
inclusive, in late May and early June, and during the concluding
months of the year, viz., from mid-October to the end of December
(see Table "A ").
Based on the standard of 144 square feet per bed, the accommodation
available for scarlet fever patients should be twenty-four
beds. On the basis of 12 linear feet per bed the accommodation
is suitable for 28 patients. During the year scarlet fever was
again prevalent, although admissions numbered 131 less than the
total admissions during 1934.