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In addition to those disinfected,—20 beds, 31 palliasses, 15 bolsters,
20 pillows, 1 pair of sheets, and 1 pair of blankets were destroyed and replaced
with new ones.
The working of the disinfecting apparatus during the year has been
satisfactory. Nearly 12,000 articles have been passed through it, and no
damage to any of them reported to me by the disinfecting officer.
Three or four instances have been brought under my notice of infectious
diseases again occurring in a family, within a short period of the return of a
member of the family from a fever hospital. After careful investigation, I find
it very difficult to eliminate the possibility of infection being introduced a
second time into the same family from other outside sources.
In the particular instances referred to, there were intervals of some ten
days or a fortnight between the return of the patients from the fever hospital
and the occurrence of the fresh cases, and the children were attending school,
so that it was quite possible that infection was from some other source.
DISINFECTANTS.
From the end of June to the end of November packets of disinfecting
powder were given away on application to the clerk of the sanitary department.
Altogether 5,040 half-lb. packets, or 1-ton 2½-cwt. of 'Sanitas' disinfecting powder
were distributed to 4,930 applicants. Enquiry was made in each case as to the
use for which the powder was intended, and insanitary conditions thus came
under the notice of the department. The cost of the "Sanitas" powder
distributed was £14 8s. Od.
In addition to the general distribution of powder, there was used one
32-gallon cask of carbolic acid and 1-cwt. of loose "Sanitas" at a cost of
£5. 16s. 0d.
These last were largely used for mortuary purposes, and in connection
with special cases of infectious disease, where the drains required extra flushing,
and the floors and wood-work of rooms cleansing and purifying.
THE SHELTEE.
Under the Public Health (Lond.) Act, 1891, sect. 60 (4), the Sanitary
Authority shall provide, free of charge, temporary shelter or house accommodation,
with any necessary attendants, for the members of any family in which
any dangerous infectious disease has appeared, who have been compelled to
leave their dwellings, for the purpose of enabling such dwellings to be disinfected
by the Sanitary Authority.