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" grave ' sanitary defects, 58 in which the sanitary defects were
" slight," and 41 in which there were no sanitary defects. It is
important to know that in arriving at these figures I have been
influenced by the consideration as to whether any particular
sanitary defect found was of a nature which is known to predispose
to or induce the particular disease in question; when this has been
the case I have entered the sanitary defects as " grave," and where
there has been a sanitary defect which, though it might have been
grave in relation to some other infectious illness, but not of a
nature likely to give rise to the particular disease associated with
it, then such defects have been entered as " slight."
Thus, apart from the immense value of the steps that have
been taken in respect of each notification to prevent the spread of
disease, the Infectious Disease Notification Act was the means for
the last 40 weeks of 1894 of bringing about a sanitary inspection of
117 houses, in which 46 "grave" and 56 "slight" sanitary defects
were remedied. The value of the Act in this relation is apt to be
lost sight of; it is particularly great because it leads to the
discovery of sanitary defects at a time when people are always
most willing to recognise their importance and to further our
efforts to get them remedied. But for the fullest possible value to
be reaped from such notifications, it is imperative that the medical
attendant sends in the certificate with the least possible delay. I
fully recognise how the matter may be temporarily overlooked in
the stress of a busy practice, but there can be no excuse for the
delay of several days which has occurred in one or two instances
during the past few months.
57 of the cases notified were removed from their homes to
various fever hospitals with the least possible delay. The bulk of
our notifications come by one of the morning posts, and, if we are
able to get the patient removed, he is sent away, the room previouslv
occupied and all infected articles are disinfected, the school
or work-place (if any) attended by the patient, and the Public
Library, are notified—all within the course of the next 1 2 hours.