London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Kensington 1901
Annual report on the health, sanitary condition, etc., etc., of the Royal Borough of Kensington for the year 1901
This page requires JavaScript
99
In previous reports an opinion was expressed tliat tlie expenditure might probably be
reduced, were the work done without the intervention of a contractor, as recommended by the
London County Council and the Metropolitan Asylums Board ; this opinion is likely, ere long, to be
subjected to the test of experience, the question of the desirability of erecting a disinfecting
station having been taken in hand by the Public Health Committee with the result that the
Council have recently decided to erect a station at the depot, Wood-lane, Shepherd's-bush.
TEMPORARY SHELTER OR HOUSE ACCOMMODATION1".
The Public Health (London) Act, 1891 (section GO, sub-section 4), imposes on the sanitary
authority the duty of making provision for housing poor persons during the time necessary for
disinfection of rooms after infectious disease. The sub-section is to the following effect: —
" The sanitary authority shall provide, free of charge, temporary shelter or house accommodation,
with any necessary attendants, for the members of any family in which any dangerous
infectious disease has appeared, and who have been compelled to leave their dwellings for
the purpose of enabling such dwellings to be disinfected by the sanitary authority."
The need for this provision is shown by the fact that in this borough last year, 164 cases
of infectious disease occurred in families in occupation of three rooms; 195 cases in families
occupying two rooms, and 63 cases in families herded in single rooms. Of the sufferers in
families occupying single rooms, 33 had scarlet fever, 19 had diphtheria, 7 had typhoid fever,
2 had typhus fever, and 2 had small-pox.
The subjoined table was prepared for the information of the Public Health Committee
when recently considering the question of providing a shelter.
| The Tear. | In Three Room Tenements. | In Two Room Tenements. | In One Room Tenements. | Total. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Year. | Small-pox. | Scarlet Fever. | Diphtheria. | Typhus Fever. | Typhoid Fever. | Total. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | ||||||
| 1 | — | |||||
| — | ||||||
| — | 60 | — | ||||
| — | — | |||||
| — | — | |||||
| — | — | |||||
| 2 | ||||||
As pointed out in preceding reports, "the only satisfactory mode of dealing with this
matter would be to erect a shelter and provide it with a proper equipment," which could be
"most economically done in connection with a disinfecting station."