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Very small proportion had been seen by a doctor before the notice was sent
to the schools. It is important to remember that unless a doctor sees the
patient whilst the rash is visible, in many cases he cannot possibly be
certain that the disease is measles, and he cannot give a certificate when
he sees the child ofter recovery unless he depends entirely for his diagnosis
on the word of the mother. And yet in many cases such certificates, obtained
to comply with the orders of the attendance officer, are considered satisfactory.
Scarlet-fever.
65 cases of scarlet-fever were notified during the year, a decrease of
78 as compared to 1903. One case was an infant under 1 year of age,
and one a person aged over 25, but the majority of the patients (84 per
cent) were persons aged between 1 and 15. An interesting point is the
even distribution of the cases throughout the year. 17 were notified in the
1st quarter, 15 in the 2nd, 14 in the 3rd, and 19 in the last. Taking the
ward divisions of the district, the number of cases from each were as
follows
Hounslow North 2
Hounslow South 32
Heston 11
Isleworth 20
49 of the cases were removed to Mogden hospital. Only one death
from scarlet-fever was registered during the year, and this was a patient
in the hospital admitted from Richmond.
Diphtheria.
There was an increase in the number of notifications of Diphtheria
during the year, 37 having been notified compared to 29 in 1903. This
number was, however, less by 19 than the total cases in 1902. Practically
half the cases were notified during the last quarter of the year, when there
were 18, 9 in October, 7 in November and 2 in December. In the first
and second quarters there were each 7 notifications, and in the third 5.
The Wards from which the cases came were:—
Hounslow North 5
Hounslow South 17
Heston 7
Isleworth 8