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46
Source of Infection.—Some probable source of infection was
discovered in 18 cases, viz., mother, 1; sister, 2; brother, 3;
neighbour, 12.
Deaths.—Table VIII. gives the death-rate from diarrliœal
diseases in the summer quarter during the past six years, and
infantile death-rates for the year in London and Woolwich during
the past six years. With this is also given the maximum temperature
of the 3 ft. ground-thermometer, and the average temperature
of the same thermometer for the 13 weeks of each summer quarter
of the years 1901 to 1907.
It is well known that diarrhœa is much more prevalent during
warm weather.
The past quarter had the lowest average temperature of the air
(58.87) of any summer quarter in the past seven years. It was
therefore to be expected that the diarrliœal mortality of this year
would be lower than in any of the past six years. As a fact, the
deaths from diarrhoea (including epidemic or zymotic enteritis,
dysentery, and infantile cholera) were 0.34 per 1,000 living,
which is much below the rate for the past six years (see Table
VIII). The diarrhoea death-rate in the County of London was
0.46, the lowest rate for any of the past seven years.
In order to test the advantage derived from notification of
zymotic enteritis, I have compared the diarrhœa death-rate of
the summer quarter of London and Woolwich in the two periods
1901-4 and 1905-7.
In the earlier period, zymotic enteritis was neither notifiable
in Woolwich nor in any other part of London. In the past three
years it has been notifiable in Woolwich, but not in any other part
of the County.