View report page

It will be seen in this table that of the 62 cases of diphtheria
notified in elementary school children, no fewer than 44 occurred
in the Alexandra Schools. These 44 cases represent an outbreak
of very great severity spread over a considerable period, and I wish
to give a short account of the outbreak.
The first case was notified and admitted to hospital on January
24th. This was a girl of 9 years from the Girls' Department,
suffering from a very severe attack of diphtheria, and death occurred
on February 6th, the fourteenth day of illness. On February 1st
the second case was notified, a child of 4½ years attending the
Infants' Department. This child was also very gravely ill and
died on February 6th, on the seventh day of illness. These two
children were cousins and were possibly in contact with one another
outside school hours.
On February 12th three more cases were notified from the
Girls' Department, all from different classes, and during the next
fortnight a further ten cases were notified, nine from the Girls'
Department, including a teacher, and one from the Boys' Department.
On February 18th the Girls' Department was closed, to be
reopened on March 2nd. From February 23rd to March 16th no
cases occurred, but one case was notified on March 17th, and during
the next ten days four further cases occurred, three in the Girls'
Department and one in the Boys', this last case terminating fatally.
During April and May a further sixteen cases occurred. Of
these, seven, including one teacher, were from the Girls' Department,
two from the Infants' and one from the Boys' Department.
The remaining six cases were children under school age, contacts
of cases attending school, and all of them from two families occupying
the same house. During June and July no cases were reported,
but on August 1st a girl of eleven years was admitted to hospital
with a very severe attack which proved fatal within a few hours.
Three more cases occurred during August, with one death; two in
September; two in October; six in November, including one teacher
in the Girls' Department; and three during the first two days of
December. Since then no further cases have occurred.
The cases occurring during the different months of the year
are shown in the following table:—
13