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THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUM REPORT
of the
MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH,
being that for the year
1889.
To the Board of Works for the Hackney District.
Gentlemen,—
The most noteworthy event of the year in sanitary
matters was the passing of the Infectious Diseases Notification
Act, which came into operation on the 30th day of October.
This Act renders it compulsory for every medical practitioner
attending a case of the infectious diseases mentioned in the
Act, to certify, and every head of family or other nearest
relative, to notify to the Medical Officer of Health the
existence of the said disease in any house situated within any
parish or district in the Metropolis. The fee payable by the
Local Sanitary Authority to the medical practitioner certifying
is 2s. 6d. for every private patient, and 1s. for every person
attended by a public official in the execution of his duty ; but
the amount so paid is to be refunded by the Metropolitan
Asylums Board out of the rates. The diseases mentioned are
small-pox, cholera, diphtheria, membranous croup, erysipelas,
scarlatina or scarlet fever, typhus, typhoid or enteric, relapsing,
continued and puerperal fevers. Between the 30th day of
October and the 31st day of December inclusive, I received
352 certificates and 163 notifications. At first there was some
friction in working the Act, but the objections thereto seems
now to have passed away. The notifications sent are not so
numerous as they ought to be, probably from ignorance of the
duty required by the Act. I am not, however, aware of any
case in which the medical practitioner has neglected to comply,