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34
The chief cause of the spread of the disease throughout
the district has been the perambulations of the non recognised
cases (usually referred to as " missed" cases), and consequent
non isolation of the same, and the attendance at school of the
children from a house where unrecognized cases existed ; this
has been due to the mildness of the attacks in some instances,
the nature of the illness not being recognised until the
"peeling" stage was reached. This stage of the ailment may
be a fortnight or more after the onset of the illness, the child
being apparently well after the first two or three days from the
onset of the disease and yet being a source of danger to
others.
In the Annual Report for 1907 it was shewn by diagram
what a great annual reduction of notified cases of this disease
had taken place since the opening of the Mogden Isolation
Hospital, compared with the period previously. The natural
result of this is that there are many children and adolescents
throughout the Borough who have not had the disease. When
we recognize the thickly populated neighbourhoods where the
disease has recently appeared and the impossibility of any
adequate isolation at the houses of the majority of the children
who were affected, the usefulness of the Isolation Hospital becomes
again evident, it having been the chief means of arresting
the epidemic at such an early stage. The total number of cases
of scarlet fever notified throughout the Borough during the
month of October was 21 and of these 20 were removed to Hospital,
during November there were 28 cases notified and of these
25 were removed to Hospital, whilst during December there
were 17 cases notified and of these 15 were removed to Hospital.
There have been no deaths from this disease in the Borough or
at the Hospital during the year.
Enteric Fever.
Five cases of this disease were notified throughout
the year. No deaths were registered as
due to this disease.