[Report 1909] / Medical Officer of Health, Carlton U.D.C.

  • Carlton (England). Urban District Council.
Date:
1909
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1909] / Medical Officer of Health, Carlton U.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Diphtheria, including Membranous Croup.—^There were 20 cases notified against 26 in 1908, 14 in 1907, and 55 in 1906. There were 17 cases in Carlton, 3 in Netherfield, and none in Porch ester Ward. There were 3 deaths, 2 in Carlton and 1 in Netherfield. The case fatality (that is, percentage of deaths to cases) was 15 ; and the attack rate, or cases per 1,000 of the population, P26. The case fatality in 1908 was 1T5; and 1907, 35’7. This disease, like some other infectious diseases, has a tendency to vary in severity at different periods, but the injection of anti- toxin serum as a routine treatment has undoubtedly effected a decrease in the percentage of deaths compared with the times previous to its adoption. As a preventive in addition to serum treatment the removal of cases to a suitable Isolation Hospital is the best step to take. The serum is expensive, but, as I stated in my last Annual Report, it is supplied free in this district to poor people. Diphtheria is, I fear, often spread by the too early return of children to school after apparent recovery from an attack. To determine whether an individual can no longer infect others, ‘‘ swabs ” from the throat should be taken and examined by a bacteriologist. This would incur some expense, but would be well worth the outlay. Of the 20 cases, 16 were of about school age, such preponderance indicating that the disease is favoured by the collecting together of children in schools. Scarlet Fever.—There were 69 notifications, 28 cases in Carlton, 38 in Netherfield, and 3 in Porchester Ward. There was 1 death, giving a case fatality of P45 per cent. The attack rate or cases per 1,000 of the population was 4'36. There were 41 children between 5 and 15 years of age, nearly two-thirds of the total attacked, implying as