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66
Scarlet Fever.
Scarlet fever to-day is a disease of slight clinical importance,
and the mildness of the infection results in many cases escaping
detection. In 1929, 1,043 notifications were received and the
of these 957 patients were removed to hospital for treatment. The
deaths numbered 4. In 28 instances patients who had been
removed to hospital were found after admission not to be suffering
from scarlet fever or any other infectious disease and were
returned home.
Removal to hospital, unless adequate facilities were available
at home for the satisfactory nursing of the patient, steam
disinfection of bedding and fumigation of rooms and exclusion
from school of contacts were carried out in each case.
The return cases numbered 38. (A return case is defined as
one which occurs within 28 days after the release of the original
case from isolation.) As far as T am aware, no use was made in
the Rorough of the Dick Test for the detection of susceptible
contacts, or of the employment of the means to ensure active
immunisation against this disease.
Enteric Fever, including Paratyphoid.
Twelve notifications of enteric fever were received during the
year, and with the exception of two cases which were nursed at
home the patients were removed to hospital for treatment. Of
the 10 cases sent to hospital, 2 were returned home as not suffering
from enteric fever or any other notifiable disease. There
were no deaths.
Careful enquiries were made as each case was reported to
discover whether any of the usually looked for contaminating
agencies were responsible for the disease, viz., water, milk, shellfish,
watercress, etc., or a carrier engaged in the manufacture,
preparation or handling of food, could be attributed to the possible
cause of the illness, but the source of infection was not traced in
any of the cases.
Cerehro-Spinal Meningitis,.
4 cases of cerebro-spinal meningitis were notified during 1929
to the Public Health Department.