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(5.) E. M. aged twenty-three, a married woman, and a relative of the P.
family, residing at No. 24, H- Road, was taken ill about the middle
of October, took to her bed on November 4th, and was certified to have
enteric fever on November 6th. This patient helped in nursing case
(1), at No. 58,C- Street, and also in the housework there.
(6.) G. P. aged 36, father of the family, was taken ill about November 2nd,
and was certified to have enteric fever on November 6th.
Two younger children belonging to the P. family, were sent from No. 58,C-
Street, to stay with some friends at Norwood early in November, As I was informed
that they were not quite well when they were sent away from 58, C- Street, I
communicated with Dr. Meredith Richards, the medical officer of health for Croydon.
He wrote to me stating that the children had had some indefinite illness and that he
had caused specimens of the blood of the children to be examined for Widal's reaction.
In the case of the younger the result of this examination was negative, but in that of
the older there was a very slight and incomplete reaction. Neither of the children
then manifested any symptoms of illness pointing to enteric fever. About a month
later, however, Dr. Richards informed me that an inmate of the house at Norwood,
at which the P. children had been staying, had been certified to be suffering from
typhoid fever.
With respect to the foregoing cases, I have no doubt that case (1), although not
certified as such, was in reality a severe case of enteric fever in which there was a
good deal of diarrhœa; no precautions were taken such as should have been taken in
connection with a severe case of enteric fever and cases 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 resulted in
consequence. Of the two younger children it is probable that the older of them had a
slight attack of the disease, and was the source of infection in the case at the house in
Norwood.
ERYSIPELAS.
The cases certified as erysipelas numbered 173; the figures for previous years
are contained in last year's report. The deaths were 8, as compared with 6 in 1901,
10 in 1900, 16 in 1899, 11 in 1898, 5 in 1897, 3 in 1896, 5 in 1895, 5 in 1894 and 15 in 1893.