[Report 1927] / Medical Officer of Health, Rotherham County Borough.
- Rotherham (England). County Borough Council
- Date:
- 1927
Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Credit: [Report 1927] / Medical Officer of Health, Rotherham County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![The following complications occurred amongst the cases treated :— Scarlet fever. Diphtheria. Enteric fevers. Other diseases. Abscess of jaw l Strabismus 1 Phlebitis ... 1 Abscess of neck ] ,, knee 1 Nasal discharge 2 ,, neck l Laryngeal paralysis ... 2 Bronchitis 1 Laryngeal obstruction 5 Pneumonia 1 Palatal paralysis 10 Secondary rash 2 Aural discharge 26 Cardiac irregularity ... 5 Cardiac irregularity ... 30 Aural discharge 10 Rheumatism ... 15 Nasal discharge 25 There were 3 return ” cases of scarlet fever, and none of diphtheria. Tracheotomy was performed in the 5 cases of laryngeal obstruction. THE DIPHTHERIA EPIDEMIC. During the year, 104 cases of diphtheria were notified, and 17 deaths recorded. Of the total cases 92 were treated in the Isolation Hospital, where 13 deaths occurred. The home treated cases numbered 12, of whom 4 died. During the first seven months of the year, eleven cases were notified, followed by 5 in August, and 20 in September. This rapid rise led to an arrangement being made with medical practitioners to swab other members of affected families, a procedure which had for its result the dis¬ covery of several earlier and milder cases. Attention was later focussed on Well- gate school, and the School Medical Officer was asked to examine for any suspected cases. On October 13th he examined all the children present, and took swabs from 17 children with signs of sore throat, nasal or ear discharge. On examination of these at the Public Health Laboratory, organisms similar to those causing diphtheria were found in three cases, one of the throat, and two of the ear. All the others were negative. After the isolation of these three children, with the exception of two cases which occurred later in the month, and were diagnosed at the earliest possible moment owing to the strict supervision in force, no further immediate cases were associated with the school in question. In all, 19 cases occurred in Wellgate school. Towards the end of October, during which 28 cases were notified, a relative preponderance of cases occurring at St. Ann's school was observed, and the same routine was adopted as had been at Wellgate school. On November 4th, 25 swabs were examined from suspected children yielding diphtheria like organisms in 4 cases, 1 of nasal discharge, and 3 of aural discharge. As the nose and ear cases which were found apparently positive were well and able to attend school, it was deemed advisable to examine all the children in the Borough known to be suffering from chronic nose and ear discharges. This, so far as it could be, was done at the School Clinics. In all, 47 cases were found](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b30042598_0045.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
