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Seven patients were admitted with respiratory obstruction.
In five of these cases the obstruction proved to be
due to laryngeal diphtheria and tracheotomy was performed
in two instances. The patients who underwent tracheotomy
both made good recoveries.
One case of non-diphtheritic obstruction was found to be
due to a retropharyngeal abscess. The second case was due
to a septic throat complicated by pleurisy.
In all, five deaths from diphtheria occurred amongst the
one hundred and three cases admitted to hospital. This
gives a fatality rate of 6.1 per Cert. for the eighty-one cases
of clinical diphtheria under treatment. This figure is considerably
above the fatality rate of 2.1 per Cert. for the
previous year. Only one of the fatal cases was a Wimbledon
patient, the remaining four having been admitted from
outside the Borough.
Three negative swabs were obtained from the nose and
throat of all cases prior to discharge. Five patients, however,
gave persistent positive swabs from the throat. Animal
inoculation tests proved that the organisms present in these
cases were virulent. These patients were operated on for
the removal of their tonsils by the Ear, Nose and Throat
Surgeon attached to the hospital, and were ultimately discharged
after the usual negative swabs had been obtained.
Three of these "carriers" were adults, two of them being over
fifty years of age.
A number of other patients were temporary "carriers"
and this necessitated a longer stay in hospital than is usually
the case before they eould be pronounced cured.
No "return" cases of diphtheria were reported during
the year.
Enteric Fever.—Two patients were admitted to hospital
as cases of enteric fever. In neither case, however, was the
diagnosis confirmed on further investigation. One of the
patients was found to be suffering from pleurisy.
Both patients made good recoveries.
Meningitis.—Two patients were admitted as cases of
cerebro-spinal meningitis.
In one case the patient was found to be suffering from
whooping cough, and not meningitis. In the second case the
disease was due to meningococcal meningitis.
Both patients made good recoveries.
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