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156
1902]
DISINFECTION.
There is no work so important in the prevention of disease as that of
disinfection, and, therefore, it is not surprising to find that owing to the Small
Pox epidemic it was unusually heavy during the year.
Disinfection of Rooms.—3,150 rooms were disinfected with formaldehyde
gas or with formalin used in the form of a spray, or with both. This
method of disinfection has been practised in Islington for some time past, and
has been found to give most excellent results. Since the use of formaldehyde the
practice of stripping the papers off the walls of rooms has ceased with certain
reservations. Thus throughout the epidemic of Small Pox the wall-papers
of rooms, which had become infected, were stripped off in every instance because
it was considered advisable that nothing should be left undone, even in
appearance, which might cause residents to be uneasy, and also wherever it was
found necessary for sanitary reasons to do so, although in ordinary cases of
infectious disease they were not removed unless it was deemed expedient.
Cleansing and Stripping of Rooms.—1,314 rooms were cleansed, and
their papers stripped from the walls. This is more than four times the
number dealt with in the preceding year, the increase being entirely caused by
the prevalence of Small Pox.
Disinfection of Schools.— In addition to the usual disinfection of
houses after infectious diseases, the Infants' Departments, or certain class
rooms thereof, were disinfected in consequence of Measles, Chicken Pox, or
Diphtheria having appeared amongst the scholars. Amongst these were:—
Board Schools.—Gillespie Road, Upper Hornsey Road, Poole's Park
Thornhill Road, Whittington (Highgate Hill).
Other Schools.—The Truant School, Highbury, was disinfected after several
cases of Small Pox.
Corridor Train.—A portion of a corridor train on the Great Northern
Railway in which a person suffering from Small Pox had travelled from the
North of England, was disinfected.
Other Places.—The Relief Offices, Corsica Street, Highbury, and the
Caledonian Asylum were also disinfected, after a case of Small Pox in the
former, and cases of other infectious diseases in the latter.