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55
Diphtheria Occurring in Immunised Children.
17 cases occurred where there was a history of previous
immunisation but in several of the cases it could not be verified
whether the complete course of injections had been given. ' There
were no deaths. One boy of 11 years was a hypertoxic case of
Nasal and Faucial Diphtheria and developed Palatal, Facial, Ciliary,
Pharyngeal Paralysis, Diplopia and Polyneuritis. Two other
cases presented complications while in the remainder their convalescence
was uneventful. In ten cases the Schick test was found
to have relapsed from negative to positive.
Thus, since the immunity conferred by artificial immunisation
is not permanent, a child immunised in infancy should be given a
reinforcing dose when it begins school. It has also been advocated
that a second " booster " dose should be given at the age of ten
years.
Scarlet Fever.
Number of notified cases 92
Revision of diagnosis 6
Tonsillitis 1
Rubella 2
Measles 2
No evidence of infectious disease 1
Final number of Scarlet Fever cases 86
18 Cases were recommended for tonsillectomy.
The disease continued to be of a mild type and responded well
to sulphadiazine therapy. There were no deaths. 70 cases were
uncomplicated and 16 cases had the following complications.
The heart and lung complications responded well to sulphadiazine
and penicillin therapy.