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It will be seen from these figures that the total number of cases
connected with the outbreak was 56, 44 of these being children
attending the Alexandra Schools, three teachers in the Girls' Department
and nine other children under or over school age. The outbreak
was at its worst in the month of February when 15 cases
occurred, but there were ten cases in May and eight in November.
The only months in which no fresh cases occurred were June and
July.
The outbreak was characterised throughout its course by the
great severity of the majority of the cases, the clinical picture
suggesting at once the "gravis" type which has been so common
during recent years in many centres in the north of England. In
most cases the throat lesions were very extensive, involving the
tonsils, soft palate and anterior fauces with considerable oedema
of the throat, and in many cases very marked swelling of the cervical
glands. The response to antitoxin treatment was usually slow, and
in most cases the throat condition cleared up only after very large
doses of serum, as much as 200,000 units of diphtheria antitoxin
being required in several cases.
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