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12
It is unfortunate that all these diseases should have been
so prevalent during the same year, otherwise, owing to the marked
decrease in Diarrhœal mortality, the Zymotic death rate this year
would have been a phenomenally low one.
INFECTIOUS DISEASES.
The number of cases of Infectious disease notified during
the year was 1,617. This equals a notification rate of 11.8 per
1,000 of population, which is a higher rate than prevailed during
the previous year. The increase is due to the prevalence of both
Scarlet Fever and Diphtheria during the last four months of the
year, an exceptionally large number of cases of both these
diseases being notified during this period.

It will be noticed that although the number of cases of
Infectious disease varies somewhat each year, when the figures
for a number of years are taken the attack rate per 1,000 of population
shows no real diminution. It becomes necessary, therefore,
to inquire into this, and to ask how it is that despite the large
sums of money spent on disinfection and on Isolation Hospitals,
these measures have apparently failed to effect any reduction in
the prevalence of Infectious diseases.
This question has been receiving attention during the past
few years in many parts of the country, and figures have been
produced in support of a statement that, chiefly as regards Scarlet
Fever, towns not providing Isolation Hospital accommodation for
this disease have either no more or even have less cases per 1,000
of population, than towns where a very large proportion of these
cases are admitted to hospital.