London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
City of London 1906
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Port of London]
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27
DIPHTHERIA.
Seven cases of this disease were notified during the year, three of which
occurred on training ships in the River.
TABLE XI. (Diphtheria.)
| Date. | Name of Vessel, Port of Registry and Official N umber. | Where from. | No. of Cases. | How dealt with. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1906. April 19 | "Warspite" Training Ship, lying off Greenhithe. | — | 1 | Removed to Ship's Hospital on shore. |
| June 29 | s.s. "Borneo," of Newcastle, 104,287 | Calcutta. | 2 | One removed to Hospital at Aden, 1 died at sea. |
| Nov. 24 | "Arethusa " Training Ship, lying off Greenhithe. | — | 1 | Removed to Hospital at Dartford. |
| Dec. 3 | s.s. "Bradford," of Grimsby, 54,809. | Guernsey. | 1 | Removed to Hospital at Guernsey. |
| „ 9 | s.s. " Britannia," of Greenock, 93,196. | Sydney. | 1 | Removed to Port Sanitary Hospital. |
| „ 31 | "Arethusa " Training Ship, lying off Greenhithe. | - | 1 | Removed to Hospital at Bow Arrow, Dartford. |
| Total | 7 |
ENTERIC FEVER.
During the year a small epidemic of Enteric Fever occurred on the training
ship "Cornwall," which is moored off Purfleet in the River Thames, and
used for the reception and maintenance of boys from reformatory schools, the
number on board being 255 on January 1st, 1906.
The vessel is moored in an attractive position near the North bank of the
River, where the tide ebbs and flows strongly twice in each twenty-four hours,
but the sewage effluent from the London County Council's main drainage
system is discharged at Crossness and Barking, a distance of five and seven
miles respectively above the ship's position, whilst about 300 yards above the
vessel the effluent from the septic tank of a small military station situated on
the shore is discharged into the River, and the waste water from several houses
on the riverside discharge in the immediate vicinity. The amount of the
latter is inconsiderable.
I was informed by the Medical Officer of Health for the district that there
had been no case of Enteric Fever amongst the soldiers in the small military
station above referred to, neither had there been any cases even suspicious of
Enteric Fever amongst the inhabitants of the village of Purfleet.