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142
WHOOPING COUGH.
On examining the opposite table it will be seen that
there was a considerable excess of cases of this disease in
1912 as compared with 1911. Also that they nearly all
occurred in the first six months of the year. Whooping
Cough has a very disastrous effect on the attendance in the
schools, as it may be a considerable time before the child
recovers sufficiently to render it desirable for it to return to
its studies. Even if the infection is at an end, the debilitating
effect of an attack of Whooping Cough is often very marked,
sapping its vitality and rendering the child unfit to attend
school from that cause. Often, too, running concurrently
with Whooping Cough, a large number of the children
develop a cough which it is extremely difficult to determine,
as a precursor of Whooping Cough or merely the result of a
"cold." The worst result is the carrying of the infection
into the home, and frequently the younger member of the
family, under 2 years of age, contracts the disease, with a
fatal result.
Although Downshall heads the list with the greatest
number of cases, it is apparent that nearly all the schools
were affected about the same time, though the incidence on
Highlands was curiously different.