View report page

The first case of small-pox to be actually notified in the
year was notified from a house in Culvert Road on 15th
February. On 30th January the patient had called on some
friends in Gonsalva Road, and it was stated that one of these
friends was unwell at the time, and had "spots" on his face.
The house in Gonsalva Road was visited, and three of the
inmates were found to be suffering from a mild form of
small-pox. In two of these patients the rash had appeared
on 31st January, and in the other patient on 16th January.
It was then ascertained that another inmate of this house had
been unwell about the end of December, and that a few spots
had appeared on the face and arms on 1st January; but as
the illness was slight, no doctor had been called in. There
can be no doubt that this patient's illness was small-pox,
and that she was the source of the infection in the other cases.
On 1st March another case was removed to hospital from the
house in Gonsalva Road, and on the following day a second
case was removed from Culvert Road. Another case, the last
in the year, subsequently occurred in Culvert Road. In all
these cases the infection was derived, directly or indirectly,
from the unrecognised case in Gonsalva Road.
Scarlet Fever.
The number of Scarlet Fever cases occurring in 1904 was
375, of which 11 were fatal. This is by far the smallest number
of Scarlet Fever cases notified in Battersea since 1890. The
Scarlet Fever case-rate, death-rate, and case-mortality in 1891
and the subsequent years are given on page 35.