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66
Report of the Medical Officer of Health.
Five of the cases on admission to hospital were found not
to be sufferings from enteric fever.
The number of cases is eight above that of last year, but 17
below the corrected decennial average.
Five of the cases were notified as para-typhoid fever, and
all these recovered.
Six of the cases contracted the disease abroad, two had partaken
of shell-fish, and one of water-cress, about fourteen days
previous to the onset of the disease, two contracted the disease
outside the Borough from a previous case, and three presumably
from a carrier who had the disease in India two years before. In
the other eight cases no definite history of infection could be
obtained.
Cases of Mistaken Diagnosis.
In 128 cases (42 of scarlet fever, 73 of diphtheria, five of
enteric fever, five of cerebro-spinal fever, two of encephalitis
lethargica, and one of polio-myelitis), information was received
from the Metropolitan Asylums Board's and other hospitals that
the patients were not suffering from the disease notified, or any
other notifiable disease.
Cerebro-spinal Meningitis.
During the year nine cases of this disease were notified (two
in Clapham, one in Streatham, three in Tooting, and three in
Wandsworth). Eight of the cases were removed to hospital.
One case was notified as enteric fever, but was diagnosed in
hospital as cerebro-spinal meningitis.
In five cases the diagnosis of cerebro-spinal meningitis was
not confirmed in hospital.
The following Table gives particulars of these cases.