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64
Medical Officers of Health Annual Report.
suffering from Scarlet Fever. The family consisted of the
parents and three children, and occupied the ground floor
of a house in Lifford Street. The sick child, I found on
visiting the house, in the front room and nursed by the
mother. No isolation was possible in the circumstances,
but the father absolutely refused to let the child go to
hospital. As the case was situated in a crowded neighbourhood
and I felt convinced that every day the child
remained added to the danger of the surrounding population,
I considered it my duty to apply for a magistrate's
order for removal. So far as I know it was the first case
of the kind under the new Act of 1891. Section 66,
under which we applied for the order, is rather indefinite
in its wording and depends entirely on the interpretation
which the magistrate gives it. It is as follows:—"A
person suffering from any dangerous infectious disease,
who is without proper lodging or accommodation, or is
lodged in a tent or van, or is on board a vessel, may, on
a certificate from a legally qualified medical practitioner,
&c., be removed by order of a Justice to any hospital
within a convenient distance of London." It is evident
that the point turned upon what is a proper lodging or
accommodation for a person suffering from any infectious
disease. The magistrate took a common-sense
view of the question, and held the child in question had
not proper lodging or accommodation, and thereupon
granted the order for removal. The father felt aggrieved
at the action taken by us and still refused to allow the
child to go, but ultimately consented after an interview
with the Putney Local Committee.
Measles and
Whooping Cough.
These two diseases were very prevalent during
the first quarter of the year. As they are
not notifiable diseases it is impossible to say how many
cases there were. The two diseases together, however,
were the cause of 38 deaths, a greater number than we