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Measles accounted for 10 deaths during the year as
compared with 19 in 1906. This disease not being notifiable
the actual number of children who suffered is unknown,
therefore the attack rate cannot be ascertained.
Ninety-three lists containing the names of 401 scholars
suspected to be suffering from Measles were received from
the Head Teachers.
When an outbreak occurs in the Winter or early Spring
the probabilities are that a much larger number of deaths
will take place than if in the Summer time. As instances
of this, in 1904, when an outbreak occurred in February and
March, the number of deaths amounted to 23, whilst in 1905,
when the epidemic was in April, May and June, and the
number of children (measured by the returns received from
the Head Masters and Mistresses giving names of absentees
from school) was considerably more, and all departments of
Cottenham Park and the Infants Department of Holy Trinity,
St. Mary's, Central, and Haydon's Road Schools were closed,
no deaths were recorded. Again, in 1906, when the disease
was chiefly prevalent in March and April, the deaths numbered
19, whilst this year, during the outbreak in the Summer
months, the deaths numbered eight, two others in December
being registered as Malignant Measles.
Of the deaths five were of children under one year of
age, two betveen one and five, and three between five and 15.
Two deaths re re in St. Mary's, three in Trinity, and five in
South Park Ward.
Following is shown the Schools and the period for which
they were closed in order to stay the spread of the disease :—
Central Infants, May 15th to June 2nd; Haydon's Road
Infants, July 5th to July 25th; Effra Road Infants, December
3rd to December 21st. Before reopening, all class rooms,
cloak rooms, lobbies, &c., were disinfected, and during both
the Summer and Christmas vacations the whole of the
Public Elementary Schools were similarly treated by the
Staff of the Sanitary Department for the Education Committee.
Influenza was the registered cause of death in three
instances, as against 10 last year, and eight the previous year.
Two deaths were of children under five years of age and the
other a person over twenty-five.
Phthisis and other forms of Tuberculosis were the
assigned cause of 57 deaths (equal to a death rate from the
disease of 11) as compared with 59 during last year and 40
the previous year.
These numbers include nine persons formerly resident
in Wimbledon who died during the year in the Workhouse
Infirmary, Kingston, and one in the Surrey County Asylum,
Brookwood.
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