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37
The chief complications which occurred in the cases under treatment
during- the year were as follows :—
Cervical Adenitis 29 Bronchitis 1
Rhinitis 36 Diphtheria 7
Nephritis 7 Erysipelas 1
Otitis Media 23 Jaundice 3
Arthritis 6 Broncho-pneumonia 1
Onychia 21 Septicaemia 1
In 17 of these cases the diphtheria bacillus was isolated and antidiphtheritic
serum was administered.
The following table gives particulars of the chief diseases
and morbid conditions associated with scarlet fever which were
present in the patients admitted during the year :—
Pertussis 3 Scabies 2
Diphtheria 26 Impetigo 12
Varicella 1 Endocarditis 5
Tuberculosis 1 Septic Wounds, Scalds
Fractures 1 and Burns 3
It will be noticed that 8 per cent, of the cases of Scarlet Fever
were associated with infection by the diphtheria bacillus, and in
these cases isolation and treatment with anti-diphtheritic serum
was necessary.
In 23 patients suffering from the more severe septic and
toxic forms of Scarlet Fever it was considered advisable to administer
scarlet fever antitoxin and, with the exception of one case,
complicated by septicaemia and broncho-pneumonia, the results
were highly satisfactory.
Much difficulty continues to be experienced as the result of
the persistence of nasal, pharyngeal and aural complications,
which necessitate postponing the discharge of patients, often for
prolonged periods ; furthermore, the recurrence of these complications,
after discharge from Hospital, is not infrequent. There
is no doubt that these conditions are most likely to supervene in
those patients who have suffered, over lengthy periods, from
chronic naso-pharyngeal infection with hypertrophy of the tonsils,
and with the presence of adenoidal tissue in the naso-pharynx.
Another factor which must not be lost sight of in this respect is
the lack of sufficient accommodation to allow of the separation
of convalescent from acute cases with the result that re-infection