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63
Four of the five fatal terminations occurred in women between
25 and 35 years of age. The mortality from this disease demands that
some effectual measure shall be taken immediately to bring about its
reduction.
POLIOMYELITIS.
Five children, all under six years of age, were notified as suffering
from Poliomyelitis, and particulars of each were immediately sent to
the Local Government Board. Four of these children had been paralysed
for periods varying from about a month to a year at the date of
notification. It is necessary, therefore, to direct the attention of medical
practitioners to Article IV. of " The Public Health (Cerebro-Spinal
Fever and Acute Poliomyelitis) Regulations, 1912," which is as follows :
" Every Medical Practitioner who sends to the Medical Officer of
Health a Certificate of a case of Cerebro-Spinal Fever or Acute
Poliomyelitis under the Act of 1889 or under these Regulations shall
at the same time state on the certificate the age and sex of the patient
and the date of the onset of the disease."
* * *
There were no deaths from this disease during the year.
TUBERCULOSIS.
The Tuberculosis Regulations of 1912 became operative on
February 1st, 1913. These Regulations, which repealed all previous
Regulations, made Tuberculosis, not only of the lungs (Consumption)
notifiable to the Medical Officer of Health, but all tubercular affections
irrespective of the organ involved.
In my Report for 1913 I pointed out that the notification of
non-infective tubercular affections could serve no very useful purpose,
and I would recapitulate what was then the expression of my opinion
that, had notification been restricted in the first instance to " open "
cases of Tuberculosis, i.e. cases in which there is an open lesion,
discharging matter containing the tubercle bacillus, and the activities
of the Sanitary Authority concentrated upon these, more effectual work
would have been done.
On receipt of a notification, the Sanitary Inspector of the particular
Ward in which the case occurs calls and notes the environmental