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49
while suffering from Diphtheria in its incubation stage, or
contracted the disease while on a visit to some friends here.
Upon being acquainted with the nature of the child's ailment,
the mother hastened back to her home, against the advice
of the medical attendant. When the Inspector called and
found that patient and mother were gone, enquiries were set
on foot to learn the train by which they had travelled
and their destination. The Medical Officer of Health of
the district and the Railway Company were communicated
with.
The Railway Company's employees were able to identify
the carriage in which mother and child travelled. That and
the waiting room were disinfected. The cab that took
them from the Station to their home was discovered and
also disinfected. The mother contracted the complaint, was
admitted to the Isolation Hospital, and narrowly escaped
with her life. After her recovery she was prosecuted
by the Sanitary Authority and heavily fined for
contravening the provisions of the law relating to
infectious diseases.
Let me repeat, for the information of medical men in
the district, what was stated in last year's report, that
antitoxic serum is supplied, upon their requisition, at the
Council Buildings, or, when these are closed, at the adjoining
Fire Station. Also I would remind them that the bacteriological
examination of throat swabs for the Diphtheria
bacillus is undertaken by the Medical Officer of Health, and
reports furnished to them with the least possible delay. It is