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85
It is quite possible that some of the cases in the above list
were discharged from hospital rather a little too soon.
Five cases were examined by the Medical Officer of Health and
swabs taken from the throat—in one of these the diphtheria
bacillus was still present. In the Metropolitan Asylums Board it
is the practice not to discharge patients for home unless two
swabs taken at an interval of one week give no evidence of the
presence of diphtheria.
Throat swabs are examined bacteriologically free of charge for
medical men by the Public Health Department; 69 were submitted
in 1910, and in 22 specimens the diphtheria bacillus was
found present.
DIPHTHERIA ANTITOXIN (LONDON)
ORDER, 1910.
This was considered by the Finsbury Borough Council in September,
1910. It was then decided that the Medical Officer of
Health should keep a sufficient supply of Diphtheria Antitoxin
Serum for the use of Local Medical Practitioners, to be obtained
by them on request at the Public Health Office and that payments
be made to medical men for injecting patients with the serum
in accordance with the following scale:—2/6 for each case so
treated during the day time, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and 5s. for each
case so treated at night time, 9 p.m. to 9 a.m.
This order only applies to poor patients resident in Finsbury.
When the serum is asked for at the Public Health Office the
name, age and address of the Finsbury patient are given and the
amount of serum injected and the site of the injection are noted
on the usual notification certificate, for the information of the
hospital authorities.
Five medical men have availed themselves of these facilities.
The gratuitous distribution of diphtheria antitoxin serum was
adopted in Finsbury many years ago, but until the issue of the
present order, no fees were paid for its administration.