DIPHTHERIA.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16214, 17 May 1918, Page 7

DIPHTHERIA.

NO EPIDEMIC.

HEALTH OFFICER'S STATEMENT.

In response to enquiries by a representative of "The Press," Dr. Chesson, District Health Officer, gave some interesting facts concerning the prevalence of diphtheria at the present time. "There is no evidence of any pronounced local epidemic/' he said. "The disease is pretty well scattered thjpughout the district." To support this statement he quote from official bulletins, which indicated that cases had, since the beginning of May, been leported in Christchurch, Ivaiapoi, Kaikoura, Cheviot, Belfast, Springfield, Marshland, Doyleston, Lyttelton. Sumner, New Brighton, Ashley, and Rangiora. During the week ended May 13th 29 cases had been reported in North Canterbury. The previous week there were 17 cases, and in the three preceding weeks the totals were 15, 22, and 9 respectively. Comparing the figures for the North Canterbury | and Westland Health District with the "Wellington Health District's figures, there were for the week ending May: 6th only 17 cases in the former as against 91 in the latter. "It will! thus be seen," remarked Dr. Chesson, I "that there is no reason to consider that North Canterbury is unduly affected. The disease is distributed over the whole Dominion, and the Canter- . bury-Westland district has the lowest number of cases, both actually and on a population basis."

Discussing preventive measures, Dr. Chesson said that it would he advisable for mothers to ensure that their children lived under as hygienic conditions' as possible. They should gee plenty of open air at all times, and be kept away from ill-ventilated apartments and crowded places of _ amusement. A particularly dangerouß practice was travelling in closed-up tramcars. He had noticed that some tramcars were habituallv sealed up, and people young and old were crowded in them. This lack of adequate ventilation was conducive to the spread of any infectious disease. Special attention should be given by school-teachers to the ventilation of school-rooms during the time that children were in them, and they should be thoroughly air-flushed when empty. Proper hygiene of the mouth was another important precautionary measure. As regards scarlet' fever, Dr. Chesson stated that the number of cases reported recently was verv low. Only seven had been reported'in North Canterbury during the week ended May 13th, and there were only seven the previous week During the week ended April 29th there were only nine cases reported.