Changing patterns of communicable disease in England and Wales: part II-Disappearing and declining diseases.

Many of the traditional infectious diseases have declined or even disappeared and others have shown a change in their epidemiology in England and Wales over the past 20 years. Diphtheria, poliomyelitis, and smallpox have almost disappeared, while brucellosis, dysentery, hepatitis, measles, staphylococcal in- fections, tetanus, and tuberculosis have declined. There have been other changes in the epidemiology of some of these diseases. Staphylococcal infections in hospitals have decreased dramatically although there is no continuous quantitative measure of this condition.