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this I think is mainly owing to the very active
part taken by the School Medical Officer, who on
repeated occasions specially visited the schools,
and excluded all suspicious cases, while I also
visited other absentees, where a medical man was
not in attendance.
This outbreak rapidly subsided, and there
was no cause for any special anxiety in connection
with the schools until the latter end of October,
when several cases were reported among children
attending St. Andrew's Infants' School, and
living in Bush Hill Park, and as on visiting many
absentees and taking swabs of suspicious cases
and contacts I found in five days no less than
seven children harbouring Diphtheria Baccilli,
although showing no clinical symptoms, and
swabs sent by the School Medical Officer and other
medical men showed positive results in some cases,
I advised, after consulting with the School Medical
Officer, that the school be closed for a fortnight,
which was done by an order of the District
Council.
Following our regular practice the school
premises were thoroughly disinfected and cleansed
during the period of closure, and the sanitary
arrangements overhauled.
The school was re-opened on November 15th,
and it has since remained free from disease.
This little outbreak necessitated a large number
of visits to contacts, etc., both on the part of
myself and the Sanitary Staff, and as showing
some of the difficulties I had to contend with, on
October 27th from information received on visiting
a house where a case had been notified, I
made a call at a house in another street, there
discovering a boy who had been ill for some three