View report page

12
In London several sporadic cases of cholera were reported in
various parishes, and in most of these cases the bacteriological examination
of the contents of the small intestine, led Dr. Klein—who
conducted the investigations on behalf of the Local Government
Board and the London County Council—to assert positively that the
results of his examinations showed that the cases were indistinguishable
from true or Asiatic cholera. The difficulty in assuming
the correctness of the view that these were true Asiatic cholera
cases, lies in the fact, firstly, that in hardly any of them was there
any history of exposure of the patient to the infection of cholera—
on the contrary, the most diligent research failed to establish any
connection between these cases, and undoubted cases of cholera in
Grimbsy or elsewhere—and secondly, that there was a notable
failure of the infection to spread from these cases, even under circumstances
where the spread of cholera infection was exceedingly
likely to happen.
Two severe cases of what was thought to be English cholera were
reported to me in this parish in September, and I saw a third case
in St. George's, Hanover-square. In all these cases the symptoms
were of a severe type, closely simulating those of Asiatic cholera,
and much graver than are generally seen in the choleraic attacks of
adults in non-cholera seasons. The St. George's patient was subsequently
removed to the St. George's Infirmary in Fulham-road,
where I found him suffering from a well marked attack of Roseola
—which was a notable complication of many of the undoubted
cholera attacks in Grimbsy. In this case, however, as in the other
ones, there was a history either of exposure to foul drain emanations,
or of the consumption of tainted food, such as would account for a
severe attack of simple cholera. There was no evidence in any of
th£ cases of the patients having been in any cholera-infected district,
or of having been in communication with any person or thing
likely to carry true cholera poison. I did not think it necessary to
report these cases to the Local Government Board, being satisfied
in my own mind that they were not attacks of Asiatic cholera.
By kind permission of the Guardians, several unoccupied houses
in Sydney-street were placed at my disposal for the reception of
persons who might have to be removed from their homes in the
event of true cholera appearing in the parish, until the houses
attacked could be thoroughly cleansed and disinfected. These
empty houses were cleaned and got ready for immediate occupancy,
but fortunately their use has not been required. It will, I trust, be
clearly understood that there was no intention to use these houses
as hospitals for cholera patients, but merely to employ them for the
temporary reception of the healthy inmates of houses invaded by
cholera.
SMALL-POX IN CHELSEA.
Small-pox has been more prevalent in Chelsea during the past
twelve months than for many years past. In 1892 only four cases
were notified. In 1893, 29 cases in all were notified as occurring
amongst Chelsea parishioners.