View report page

(37)
this time the population has doubled, so that the
incidence of Scarlet Fever cannot be considered
excessive, as compared with past years.
RETURN CASES OF SCARLET FEVER.
The occurrence of what are known as return
cases has led in certain quarters to a questioning of
the utility of Isolation Hospitals as a means of
preventing the spread of infection. Return cases are
cases understood to arise from infection by exposure to
cases discharged from Hospital as well, and presumably
free from infection. It is alleged that in the case of
Scarlet Fever the number of return cases is so great
as fully to compensate for any gain that might arise
from isolation in Hospitals. It is insisted upon that
the aggregation of a great number of infectious cases
in one building makes it practically impossible for the
Scarlet Fever patient to get rid of his infectiousness,
and it is urged that not the aggregation which the
present Hospitals provide, but isolation, in the strict
sense of the term, is necessary in order to stamp out
the infection arising from an attack of this disease.
The question is a serious one, because the fact of the
occurrence of return cases cannot be gainsaid, and the