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It is believed that for certain cases, sufficient protection is furnished by the
relative isolation afforded by cubicles, provided scrupulous care is exercised by
the attendants, both medical and nursing, who are entrusted with their administration.
The principle underlying the system is, of course, "aseptic" in its
conception.
By means of the cubicles now installed, it is hoped that in each of the two
wards it will be possible to provide the manifest advantages of separate and
individual isolation for 18 patients (16 in the ward, and 2 in an adjoining room),
at an expenditure of 5, or at most 6, nurses, both day and night staff inclusive.
This should represent a material economy in the cost of isolation.
For the present, the cubicles will be exclusively utilized for the temporary
isolation of doubtful or anomalous cases, and for certain recognized attacks which
are believed to be unattended with a high degree of infectivity.
DIPHTHERIA.
The number of cases of diphtheria notified was 66, of which 14 belonged to
St. Giles and Bloomsbury, and 52 to the Holbo: n District. All but 8 patients
were removed to hospital. The average number of notifications for the preceding
decennium was 115; 39 for St. Giles and Bloomsbury, and 75 for the Holborn
District.
Four of the above cases were nurses or servants at hospitals in the Borough.
The disease was most prevalent in the Borough in the months of October and
November; the increase in October being due to an outbreak in the infants'
department of the Rosebery Avenue (Laystall Street) School, and the increase in
November was partly caused by a small outbreak at the London Homoeopathic
Hospital.
Secondary Cases.
There were four secondary cases, one of which was notified as long as a
month after the primary case. This child had apparently been suffering from
a mild and chronic attack of the disease for six weeks, and was probably the
cause of her sister's illness more than a month previously, and of the outbreak at
the Rosebery Avenue (Laystall Street) School.
Return Cases.
There were no return cases during the year.
Errors in Diagnosis.
Seven patents were returned from hospital as not suffering from diphtheria,
at varying intervals of one to three weeks after admission. In one case the