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134
DIPHTHERIA.
There was a slight decrease in the prevalence of this
disease in the schools for 1912. It will be seen from the
table on the opposite page that there was no great incidence
in any one particular school, and the cases were fairly evenly
distributed through the year. Swabs are taken from any
suspicious case, and if the specific bacillus is found the child
is excluded until a negative result is obtained. Whether the
mere presence of the Klebs Lœffler bacillus in the throat is a
possible danger I am not at present prepared to say, but it
seems to me safer to err on the side of extra caution than
to run any risk. To render this condition dangerous certainly
seems to require other factors, but what those factors
are it is extremely difficult to state at present. There appears
to be some evidence in this district that the prevalence of
offensive smells of a particular character have some influence
in assisting the growth of this organism. More than one
case was discovered in the course of the examination of
children at the Public Health Offices in the morning.