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64
ERYSIPELAS.
38 cases of erysipelas were notified during the year. Apart
from eight cases in January and six in February, the cases were
very evenly distributed throughout the rest of the year. Females
suffered more than males in the proportion of three to two, the age
groups most heavily affected being 35 to 44 and 45 to 54. The
site affected was the face in rather more than half the cases, the
legs being the next most frequently affected and then the head.
Two cases proved fatal, both being infants.
Ten cases were admitted to isolation hospitals, 15 to general
hospitals, and 13 were treated at home.
EPIDEMIC DISEASES OF THE CENTRAL NERVOUS
SYSTEM.
CEREBRO-SPINAL FEVER.
In April a child of 10 months was notified as suffering from
cerebro-spinal fever and was removed to hospital, the case proving
fatal.
Information of two other cases was first received from the
transfer death certificates, as neither of these cases had been
notified locally, being treated in hospitals outside the district. In
February a woman of 55 had been removed to hospital with an
illness which proved to be cerebro-spinal fever, and in March a
boy of 14 was similarly removed.
In September a male of 62 was notified as suffering from
epidemic meningitis, and was removed for treatment to a nearby
general hospital, where a revised diagnosis of subarachnoid
haemorrhage was made.
POLIO-ENCEPHALITIS.
In November a child of 12 months was diagnosed as suffering
from polio-encephalitis, having had convulsions followed by
temporary paresis and lymphocytosis of the cerebro-spinal fluid,
from which he recovered.
ENCEPHALITIS LETHARGICA.
In June a woman of 36 was notified as suffering from acute
epidemic encephalitis lethargica, the onset of illness being the 17th.
By the 26th she had made a complete recovery.
SMALL-POX.
No cases of small-pox were notified during the year, and no
vaccinations were performed by the Medical Officer of Health
under the Public Health (Small-Pox Prevention) Regulations, 1917.