§ Mr. R. RICHARDSONasked the Minister of Health why no reference was made, in the annual Reports of the chief medical office of the Ministry of Health for the years 1922 and 1923, to the exceptionally high mortality and fatality from diphtheria which occurred in the county borough of West Bromwich in the years in question; whether any inquiry was made by his Department in regard thereto and, if so, what special causes led to this exceptional incidence of the disease in this locality; how many of the cases were treated in hospital and how many of those cases proved fatal; and in how many of the cases treated in hospital was antitoxin administered and how many of such cases proved fatal?
Mr. CHAMBERLAINIt is the fact that the mortality from diphtheria in West Bromwich was exceptionally high in 1922 and 1923, but the incidence was fairly constant throughout those years, and the occurrence presented no feature necessitating any special inquiry by my Department or reference to the matter in the annual Report of the chief medical officer. The high incidence and fatality in 1922 were attributed by the medical officer of health to the fact that in the majority of cases medical assistance was not sought until the third or fourth day of the disease, and there was consequent delay in administering antitoxin. As regards 1923, the medical officer of health reported (hat more prompt recourse to medical assistance, which rendered earlier administration of antitoxin possible, had resulted in a reduction in the case of mortality. In 1922, 96 cases were treated in hospital, of which 18 proved fatal. The figures for 1923 were 159 and 19, respectively. In all these cases antitoxin was administered.