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15
Milk Supply.
I can but repeat the statement which I made in my
last Annual Report, that all milk for consumption,
more especially in the case of young children, should
be for a moment brought to the boiling point or
sterilized. By these means the risk of acquiring
tuberculosis, diphtheria and scarlet fever is lessened
considerably. There is only one cowshed in the
district at the present time, consequently the major
portion of the milk supply comes direct from the
country daily by rail or otherwise.
Infantile Purulent Ophthalmia.
In my report for September, I called the attention
of the Public Health Committee to the fact of several
cases of infantile purulent ophthalmia having been
brought before my notice, and, fully realizing the
serious nature of this disease, I strongly recommended
that it should be added to the list of compulsorily
notifiable diseases. This has since been done. It is
a matter of importance that more stringent instructions
should be given to midwives on the seriousness
of diseases of the eye in newly-born children. It has
been suggested that the "Central Midwives" Board
should issue such instructions.
In the month of December I received a Circular
from the Local Government Board recommending
that, in the interest of the public health, the diseases
known as "Acute Poliomyelitis" and "Cerebrospinal
Fever" should be made notifiable. They are
both serious diseases, acute poliomyelitis being more