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to be suffering from true clinical diphtheria. These latter
cases included two children suffering from laryngeal diphtheria
and one child with laryngeal and faucial diphtheria.
Four patients were admitted as a result of "positive"
swabs and were found to be harbouring the bacilli in the
nose and throat but not actually suffering from the disease.
Three other patients, on admission, were found to be suffering
from non-diphtheritic infections of the throat.
It will thus be seen that diphtheria was not prevalent
in the Borough during the year under review.
The following complications were noted amongst the
forty patients suffering from clinical diphtheria under treatment:—
Palatal Paralysis 6
Ciliary Paralysis 4
Multiple Neuritis 3
Pharyngeal Paralysis 1
The three patients admitted with respiratory obstruction
due to laryngeal diphtheria made good recoveries and tracheotomy
was not found to be necessary.
Two deaths from diphtheria occurred amongst the forty
cases under treatment in the hospital. This gives a fatality
rate of five per cent. One of these patients was admitted
from outside the Borough. The Wimbledon patient who died
was found on admission to be suffering from severe congenital
disease of the heart.
Three negative swabs were obtained from the nose and
throat of all patients prior to discharge. Two 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
upon for the removal of their tonsils by the Oto-laryngologist
attached to the hospital and were ultimately discharged after
the usual negative swabs had been obtained. Four other
patients became temporary carriers and this necessitated a
longer stay in hospital than is usually required before they
could be pronounced safe for discharge.
No return cases of diphtheria were reported during the
year.
One patient was admitted to hospital with diphtheria
whilst in the eight month of pregnancy. A female child
was born whilst she was in the hospital. Both were discharged
to their home in due course, the patient having made
an uninterrupted recovery.
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