§ Mr. Viantasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many of the 3,000 cases diagnosed as diphtheria in 1941, which were not included in the figures of 26th April, 1942, were found to be immunised; whether any of them were fatal; and why his Department stated in February, 1942, that there had been 10 deaths from diphtheria in immunised children while the Department of Health said recently there had been one?
Mr. JohnstonOf approximately 3,000 persons over 15 years old who contracted diphtheria in 1941, 31 (none of whom died) are reported by medical officers of health to have been immunised, and 42 (reported not to have been immunised) died. With regard to the last part of the Question, corrected figures received from medical officers of health since February, 1942, showed that of the 10 children referred to, five had been erroneously recorded as immunised, one had received only one inoculation, and three had developed diphtheria within one week of the last injection, that is, before immunity could have been effective. These nine cases were accordingly excluded from the later statement.