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The total number of cases under treatment during the year
was 1,072, as compared with 859 in 1946. Of these, 92t5 were
discharged, 11 were transferred to other hospitals, 55 died, and
80 remained under treatment at the end of the year.
SCARLET FEVER. This disease has continued to retain
its mild character, and its prevalence also has remained low as
compared with pre-war years. No case proved fatal, and the
average duration of the patients' residence in the hospital was
three weeks. The total number of cases under treatment was
339, which is a slight increase on the number treated in the
previous year. Of these, 301 were discharged and 38 remained
under treatment at the end of the year.
Complications occurred in 41 of the cases discharged
(13.6 per cent.). These complications were: Boils and
abscesses, 12; ottorrhoea, 11; cervical adenitis, 9; arthritis, 3;
nephritis, 1; appendicitis, 1; relapses, 4.
The diagnosis was amended in 22 cases notified as scarlet
fever. The corrected diagnoses were: Measles, 3; rubella, 5;
erythema, 7; tonsillitis, 5; mumps, 1; no disease, 1.
DIPHTHERIA. The number of cases under treatment was
45, as compared with 145 in the previous year. Of these, 29
were discharged, 2 died, and 14 remained under treatment at the
end of the year. The two fatal cases were a boy and girl, aged
7 years, who had not been immunised. They were both suffering
from a severe faucial attack and had been ill for 4 and 5 days
respectively before admission. A large dose of penicillin was
administered in addition to antitoxin, but it did not appear to
have any influence on the course of the disease. The infection
was classified as mild in 9 cases, moderate in 14 cases, and
severe in 8 cases. In 8 cases there was a history that the
patient had been immunised against diphtheria. The attack
was mild in 3 of these cases, moderate in 4 cases, and severe
in 1 case.
The diagnosis was revised in 79 cases notified as diphtheria.
The corrected diagnoses were: Tonsillitis, 52; layngitis, 15;
bronchitis, 5; Vincent's angina, 4; quinsy, 1; stomatatis, 1;
cervical adenitis, 1.
TYPHOID FEVER. Four cases of this disease were under
treatment. They were all sporadic cases and were not connected
with any local outbreak. The infection in 3 cases was by
B. Typhosus, and in the fourth case by Para-typhoid B. They
all had moderately severe attacks and all recovered.
MEASLES. An epidemic of this disease appeared during
the early spring and continued until the autumn. The majority
of the cases were children under school age, the youngest being
only four months old. The type of infection was generally not
severe, and the majority of the cases made a rapid and uncomplicated
recovery. In one case a boy aged 4 years, the disease
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