View report page

25
funeral, subsequently developed small-pox. After the
removal of Mrs. Hart and her family from Corfield
Street, the premises were carefully disinfected; all
contacts were kept under observation, and on March
7th, Ellen Lee, one of them, developed small-pox and
was removed from 140 Corfield Street; on the same day
Ellen Quilter (22) and Lilly Quilter (16) sickened and
were removed from 386; these were the two daughters
of the Mrs Quilter who had assisted in nursing the late
J. Halt.
Hearing that there had been some cases of chickenpox
in this block, I made an investigation and found
that three families had suffered from so-called chickenpox,
I was told that the children had a scattered
pustular rash over arms, chest and face, but they had
not been bodily ill. At the time of my visit all were
convalescent and all scabs fallen, but from the
appearance of the scars I feel certain the children had
suffered from mild small-pox. No medical attendant
had been called to one family, but I had an opportunity
of interviewing the doctor who attended the first lot;
he acknowledged that "he was suspicious as to the
nature of the eruption, but as the children were unvaccinated
and had no constitutional symptons he felt
sure they were not suffering from small-pox, which he
should expect to be severe in unvaccinated persons."
Upon further search I found in this same block, at
No. 242, Annie Knight (33) who was at the moment
under the care of a doctor in Mile End. This gentleman
had been in attendance for a fortnight, and had
assured the patient that she was suffering from chickenpox;
as a matter of fact she was convalescent from