MENINGITIS IN N.S.W.

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23802, 23 November 1942, Page 6

MENINGITIS IN N.S.W.

* RECORD NUMBER OF CASES (0.c.) SYDNEY, Nov. 10. Meningitis has reached epidemic proportions in New South Wales, and is the worst on record. Since January 1, more than 600 cases have .been reported and at the present rate the total number of cases for the year will exceed 1000. This year’s total of deaths reached the previous highest year’s total, 80, recorded in 1918, but there were only 120 cases that year. Use of the sulphanilamide group of drugs in treatment of the disease has reduced mortality to 13 per cent. Sulphanilamide drugs were unknown in 1918, when the mortality rate was 66 per cent. The Director-General of Public Health (Dr, E. S. Morris) said he expects the epidemic to wane within the next few weeks, but if it does not he may ask the New South Wales Government to close theatres and other places where crowds gather. “There is no need for panic,” said Dr. Morris, “Common sense precautions, such as avoiding crowds unnecessarily, are the best means of beating infection.” Dr. Morris added that the disease might be expected to appear when factories are crowded, bodies of troops are in continual close contact, and crowds are huddled together by other war-time causes. Medical science does not know the cause of the disease. To prevent its spreading, all cases and their contacts must be isolated. Symptoms are very must like those of influenza—loss of strength, headaches, and listlessness. The pupils of the eyes are dilated or uneven, and although the temperature may be high, the pulse is often slow and sluggish. The bulk of the adult population is immune, and 70 ■per-cent. -of'the people defy the-disease.