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Altogether in the past year three eases of small-pox
were notified. Of these, two were returned by the authorities
of the Metropolitan Asylums Board as not being small-pox.
This opinion I have no doubt was a correct one, for the
persons who were sent back immediately mixed with others in
the house as if they were non-infectious, and no further outbreak
occurred. The third case was of a young man who had
clearly contracted the disease on board ship. In this case we
carried out the necessary precautionary measures, with the
fortunate result that no further case occurred in the house. He
was removed from Commercial Road to the Hospital Ship.
The Bacteriological Department instituted by the late
Vestry has enabled me to give a more definite opinion as
regards cases where people had been exposed to diphtheria,
and where it was essential that they should not return to work
if there were any chance of their being in an infected state.
This has been particularly useful when cases occurred among
school teachers and servants, who were kept away from their
duties until it was certain that they were non-infective.
As the Council are aware, we systematically examine
houses as regards their sanitary condition when a case of
infectious disease has occurred. It may be of interest to
supply the following table showing the defects usually met with,
and the proportion in which they occur in the infected houses:—
Number of Infectious Cases Notified from January 1st, 1900,
to December 31st, 1900=2,285.
Drains Intercepted.
Defects.
Defective
w.c.
Water Supply.
Yes.
?
Cistern.
Defective.
Main.
No.
House
Drain.
429
626
378
274
366
543
934
1,687
270
The percentage of houses disinfected by the Council's
officers after consumption rose from 15.4 to 18.2, but this year
in a notably larger number of cases in answer to our circular
offering disinfection we were informed that all necessary precautionary
measures had been enjoined by the doctor during
the illness, and had been fully carried out, so that there was no
need for the assistance of the Council.
xiii.