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58
DIPHTHERIA.
351 cases of diphtheria were notified during the year. This
gives an incidence rate of 2.6 per 1,000, which is just above the
mean rate for the whole period since diphtheria became notifiable.
With the exception of Willesden Green and South and North
Kilburn, the incidence rate was increased in each of the Wards
Church End suffered most, and Harlesden and Willesden Green
next. North Kilburn was least affected. It is a notable fact, and
one for which I cannot wholly account, that the newer part of the
District, and especially that situated in the Brent area, persistently
suffers more from diphtheria than the metropolitan area. The
difference in the age distribution of the respective populations is
not a sufficient explanation, for in the Table (No. 22) the rates are
estimated on the population under 15 years of age.
South and Mid Kilburn usually suffer in a greater degree
from erysipelas than do the other Wards, while Church End,
Harlesden and Willesden Green show a preference for diphtheria.
I will not hazard a guess at the explanation of these phenomena
but they are interesting epidemiological facts not to be lost sight
of in considering the relation of certain zymotic diseases to the
prevailing sanitary conditions.