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source of infection was a known carrier who had contracted the
disease in Poland in 1939. Before coming to Hackney this person
had lived in West Ham and during her stay there a case of typhoid
had occurred in the same house but in a different family;
In 1949 12 cases of Enteric Fever were notified, seven of them
being in one house and another being a contact who had several
times visited the house during the incubation period. All the
patients recovered.
The following are comparisons between the notifications
of some of the infectious diseases over the past 30 years:—
Enteric or Typhoid Fever.—The number of cases notified
between the years 1920 and 1924 was 50, of which seven proved
fatal, while between 1946 and 1950 there were 21, but no deaths
occurred.
Erysipelas.—This is a notifiable disease and it is interesting
to compare the 120 cases and 16 deaths in 1920 with the 35 cases
and no deaths in 1950. For the first and last five-year periods the
comparative figures are—1920 to 1924, 396 cases with 31 deaths,
and 1946 to 1950, 184 cases with no deaths.
Diphtheria.—Both the incidence of this disease and the mortality
have shown a remarkable decrease. In 1901 there were 961
cases with 95 deaths and in 1920 there were 764 cases with 70
deaths. The comparative figures for the first and last five-year
periods of my term of office were- -1920 to 1924, 3,442 cases with
201 deaths, and 1946 to 1950, 111 cases with 11 deaths.
Dysentery.—Eleven cases of this disease were notified between
the years 1920 and 1924 and during the same period deaths also
totalled eleven, but three of these deaths occurred in 1922 when
only one case was notified and another three in 1924 when no cases
were notified. In 1944 there were 82 cases with one death, whilst
during the five years 1946 to 1950 there were 111 cases but no
deaths.
Encephalitis Lethargica.—In 1920 there were ten cases which
resulted in five deaths and between 1920 and 1924 there were 67
cases with 23 deaths. No cases were notified and no deaths were
recorded during the five years 1946 to 1950.
Measles.—This disease assumes epidemic proportions at biennial
periods and has shown no marked falling off during the past
30 years. Measles was not notifiable between 1920 and 1927, but
the number of cases coming to the notice of the Department through