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It is estimated that at the end of the year 51.7 per cent. of children
under five had been immunised, and 61.1 per cent. of those of ages 5-15,
an improvement on the figures of 45.3 and 54.7 per cent at the end
of the previous year.
For Schick testing, 3,602 were invited and 42 per cent. attended.
Of these, 61 were positive, a percentage of 2.5.
Provision of Anti-Toxin.
The same arrangements exist for the distribution of anti-toxin.
During the year, 56 lots were issued, totalling 448,000 units.
Schools and Spread of Infection.
In no case this year was there any suggestion that infection had been
contracted in school.
SCARLET FEVER.
Incidence.
Seventeen of the 265 patients notified as suffering from scarlet
fever were subsequently found to be suffering from other conditions,
mostly tonsillitis. The net figure of 248 is an incidence rate per thousand
population of 1.18, compared with the rate of 1.38 for the country as a
whole. The local rates during the years 1934 to 1945 ranged from 1.06
to 4.70.
The incidence was very uniform for the first, third and fourth quarters,
with an average of just over 4 cases a week. The period of greatest
prevalence was the second quarter with an average of 7 cases a week.
Deaths.
No deaths occurred in this district from scarlet fever.
Places of Treatment.
Of the 265 cases, 131, or 49 per cent., were treated at home at the
election of the parents. In the case of a further 27 per cent. of those
removed there seemed no reason the patient should not have remained
at home. In 13 per cent. the reason for removal was that there were
other children in the house, in 12 per cent. that the patient was an adult,
and in 7 per cent. of the cases there was a small baby in the house.
Secondary Infection.
There were 10 households in which secondary infections occurred.
Included in these were two in which two members succumbed with
simultaneous onset, being later followed by a secondary case. Apart
from these there was only the one household in which there was more than
one secondary case, two patients falling ill together, and having presumably
been infected by the original case. In three instances the secondary
case was the mother who, in the case of two, was nursing the original
patient at home.
Only 10 per cent. of the removal to hospitals were made on the first
day of illness, 24 per cent. on the second, 30 per cent on the third and
20 per cent. on the fourth. In 16 per cent. of cases the patient was not
removed until after the fourth day of illness. In many of these cases,
then, it is improbable that secondary cases would have occurred had the
patient been treated at home the entire course of the illness.