Chapter XVIII 



WHOOPING-COUGH, SCARLET FEVER AND 

 CEREBROSPINAL MENINGITIS 



WHOOPING-COUGH 



Prevalence More than ten thousand children 

 in America die every year from whooping- 

 cough. Under one year of age the mortality is 

 27 per cent. According to Osier, in the year 

 1900 there were 9,958 deaths from whooping- 

 cough. About 80 per cent of the fatal cases 

 were under two years of age. The fatal issue 

 in whooping-cough is usually caused by the com- 

 plication of broncho-pneumonia, nine-tenths of 

 the deaths being due to this complication. The 

 records of the New York City Department of 

 Health show that from February to August, 

 1913, there were 2,451 cases of whooping-cough 

 reported. It has been estimated that the death 

 toll from whooping-cough in England and 

 Wales is greater than the mortality from meas- 

 les, scarlet fever and diphtheria. The greatest 

 susceptibility is from six months to five years of 

 age, and over half of the cases occur during the 



218 



