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liable to contract and carry infection, and very difficult of persuasion
by ordinary methods, were thus, by private benevolence, induced to
become proteoted at a comparatively very small cost, with great
advantage to the interests of the Borough, and without cost to the
ratepayers.
Quarantine.—At the commencement of the epidemic, contacts in
some of the small-pox invaded houses were requested not to continue
their employments, and compensation for wages lost for a period of
14 days was awarded. It was soon made apparent that if this system
was universally adopted, a very considerable outlay would be incurred
without any definite advantage accruing, as it was quite impossible to
keep the quarantined persons at home and prevent them from going
into public places, although debarred from following their occupations.
The system subsequently adopted, except in special cases, was that of
permitting all contacts to continue their occupation, but making inquiry,
as before, at intervals at the house as to the health of the occupants,
until the expiration of the quarantine period of 14 days. Contacts
residing in other Boroughs were always duly notified to the Medical
Officer of Health of the Borough concerned. The total amount
expended in quarantine was £29.
Small-pox in London.—In London during the year 1902, 7797
cases of small-pox were notified, viz.:—4470 in the first quarter, 2929 in
the second quarter, 356 in the third quarter, and 42 in the fourth. The
epidemic reached its culminating point in the second week in March,
in which week 465 cases were notified. A steady decline then set in,
broken only by a rise in the fourth week of May. In the second week
of July the notified cases had fallen below 50 a week, and the epidemic
period may be considered to have come to an end by the latter end of
August, the average of the last 3 months of the year being only 3 cases
weekly. The cases notified in London in the third and fourth quarters
of 1901 were 270 and 1416 respectively. The following Table
exhibits the case-rates per 10,000 of the population for the 5 quarters
ending Michaelmas, 1902, practically the period of epidemic prevalence
in London.