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11
B.— Infectious Diseases.
(See Tables II., III., and IY.)
1. A total of 713 notifications of infectious disease were
received by me during the year, compared with 160, 790, and
886 in the three preceding years. 400 of these, or more than
half, were treated in the isolation Hospitals of the Asylums
Board. This shews a great advance in the use of these Hospitals.
The increased willingness to let patients go to the Fever Hospital
dates from the middle of 1893, when the Arsenal regulations
as to infectious disease pay were altered. But the effect did not
become visible till 1894, because in the latter half of 1893 the
Asylums Board Hospitals were crowded out. During the year
1894 more Hospital accommodation became available and there
was less prevalence of Scarlet Fever in London.
2. It is very satisfactory that a larger proportion of infectious
cases should be treated in isolation Hospitals, and the desire of
the Arsenal authorities to co-operate with the local Sanitary
authorities is most praiseworthy. But there is no advantage
without its attendant disadvantage, and I have reason to think
that the gain in getting more cases isolated in Hospital is partly
counterbalanced by the fact that the strictness of the new
regulations induces some parents to conceal the existence of infectious
disease (usually Scarlet Fever), in order to avoid the
alternative of losing the bread-winner's earnings or pariting with
their child. During the year I discovered several cases of
Scarlet Fever which had not been notified, and had been attending
school, and mixing with other children. The parents in
these cases had not called in a medical man and stated that they
thought they were cases of measles. Although I had reason to
think this statement was not correct, there was no clear evidence