View report page

the domestic contacts of these children. This latter outbreak occurred
in December and continued into January, 1953. Experience of this
Nursery outbreak confirms the view previously expressed that a considerable
amount of this mild form of dysentery escapes detection since
most of the 14 cases which were home contacts of the Nursery children
only came to light as the result of visits by the Health Stall to the homes
of the affected Nursery children and 110 doctor had been consulted.
No case was fatal.
Scarlet Fever
The incidence of scarlet fever was slightly higher than in the year
before, 128 cases being notified of which 123 were residents of the district.
The incidence rates were accordingly:
All cases 2.07 per thousand population
Residents 1.99 per thousand population
The illness was again a mild one and no deaths occurred.
Forty-nine, representing 38% of the cases were nursed at home.
Scarlet fever is not an entity, but only one of the several manifestations
to which the causal streptococcus can give rise. Since the other
forms of illness for which this organism is responsible are, in the main,
not notifiable, isolation of the patient and quarantining of contacts can
have only limited preventive value. It is not uncommon to find a case
of "sore throat" but without any rash in close association with a frank
case of scarlet fever. The infecting organism is the same in each, but
one is notifiable and the other is not.