View report page

46
In all cases in which permission could be obtained the
rooms, bedding, &c., were disinfected after the removal or death
of the patient
Sanatoria for Consumptives.
A communication was received from the Clerk of the
Metropolitan Asylums Board asking for the views of the Council
on a Memorial which the Managers had received from the
Metropolitan Branch of the Incorporated Society of Medical
Officers of Health, on the subject of the provision by the
Metropolitan Asylums Board of hospital accommodation for
the treatment and isolation of patients suffering from pulmonary
phthisis. The Memorial was as follows:-
(1) That between 7,000 and 8,000 persons (of whom the
large majority are adults in the prime of life) die every year in
London from pulmonary phthisis (consumption), the mortality
in the male sex being some 40 per cent, greater than in the
female sex, and that a much larger number of persons (also
chiefly adults) suffer from ill-health arising from the same
disease.
(2) That great loss accrues to the community from these
deaths and this morbidity from pulmonary phthisis (consumption)
and many deaths and much illness and suffering
might be prevented were hospitals provided for the treatment
of this disease.
(3) That persons suffering from pulmonary phthisis
(consumption) may be divided roughly into two classes: —(1)
those in the primary stage of the disease, which is curable
and not specially infectious; and (2) those in the chronic
stage of the disease, which is incurable and very infectious.
(4) That for those in the primary stage of the disease
hospitals are required, wherein they may be treated with a
view to cure, and for those in the chronic stage refuges,
wherein patients may be isolated so as to be prevented from
spreading the disease to others.