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PREVALENCE OF AND CONTROL OVER INFECTIOUS
AND OTHER DISEASES.
SCARLET FEVER.
The number of cases of scarlet fever notified during the
year was comparatively low, a total of 44 giving an incidence
rate of 1.01 per 1,000 population.
The majority of cases were mild, and no fatalities occurred.
Twelve cases were treated at home, and thirty-two cases were
removed to hospital. As is commonly the way in scarlet fever
the great majority of patients did not infect other members
of the family.
DIPHTHERIA.
Five cases of diphtheria occurred in residents of the
district. Three of these cases were associated with an extensive
outbreak at a private day school for girls. This outbreak
raised many points of importance in connection with our
knowledge of the behaviour of diphtheria in the immunised.
One case occurred in a military camp in the district. The
other case was that of a maid in a private house, who developed
p severe attack of faucial diphtheria which was unfortunately
not diagnosed. The illness proved fatal, and was the subject
of inquest proceedings. This occurred about the same time as
the school outbreak, but no connection between the two events
was traceable.
The outbreak of diphtheria referred to above was the
subject of a special report to the Council and has been
published in detail elsewhere (British Medical Journal, 22nd
March, 1947). It is proposed therefore, to give only a short
summary here. The school involved is a modern private day
school for children of all ages and it is attended by over 300
pupils from this and surrounding districts. The proportion of
children adequately immunised at some previous time was
94 per cent. and as many as 80 per cent. were negative to the
Schick test at the time of the outbreak. In spite of this
18 children were taken ill with diphtheria over a period of
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