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Scarlet Fever. The total number of cases under treatment
was 1,407, which is 441 more than in the previous year. Of these,
1,273 were discharged recovered, 3 died, and 131 remained under
treatment at the end of the year. Scarlet Fever Antitoxin was
administered to some of the more severe cases, and good results
were obtained with it when given in the early toxic stage, but
experience appeared to show that it had no curative effect on the
septic complications of the disease. The majority of the cases
were so mild it was unnecessary to give them serum treatment.
The three fatal cases were all suffering from the "septic type"
of the disease; their ages were 5, 7, and 8 years respectively. The
fatality rate was .24 per cent. of the admissions.
In 89 cases the disease was complicated by the presence of
other infections as follows:—
Scarlet Fever with Diphtheria 59 cases
,, 2 „ Whooping Cough 16 „
„ „ „ Measles 6 „
„ „ „ Chickenpox 5 „
„ „ „ Mumps 2 „
„ „ „ Diphtheria and Whooping Cough 1 case
38 cases showed no definite signs of the disease on admission
or afterwards, and 5 of these contracted the infection in the wards.
25 patients contracted nasal diphtheria in :the wards, apparently
from carriers.
15 cases admitted as scarlet fever were wrongly diagnosed
and proved after admission to be suffering from the following
complaints:—Pneumonia 3, Measles 3, Erythema 2, Septic rash
2, Scabies 1, Whooping Cough 1, Septic Throat 3.
13 cases admitted as diphtheria proved to be suffering from
scarlet fever.
COMPLICATIONS. Of the 1,273 cases discharged during
the year, 620, or 48.6 per cent., suffered from complications as
follows:—
Adenitis 101 cases or 7.14 per cent.
Albuminuria 118 „ „ 9.26 „ „
Arthritis 21 „ „ 1.06 „ „
Nephritis 25 „ „ 1.96 „ „
Otorrhœa 68 „ „ 5.34 „ „
Rhinorrhœa 75 „ „ 5.81 „ „
Vaginitis 12 „ „ .94 „ „
The average duration of residence of all the cases was 38.13
days.
Diphtheria. This disease continues year after year to be the
cause of much mortality and sickness among the children of the
Borough. The number of cases under treatment during 1927
was the largest on record, and the number of deaths increased to
34 from 13 in the previous year. Hospital isolation has proved
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