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Twenty of those attacked were removed to hospital, and we had
no run of cases in any one locality which would suggest a common
source of infection.
Diphtheria showed a decrease of 35 in respect of notifications,
and of live as regards deaths. There was increase in the amount of
notifications from Dulwich and North Peckham, coupled with a very
marked decrease in South Camberwell.
Towards the end of September a child attending the boys'
department of a school in East Dulwich was notified; and at
about the same time there was a communication from the teachers
saying that certain children from the infants' section of the same
school had been excluded on account of sore throat. The school
was visited by the County Council authorities, and a number of
swabs taken from the throats of children who showed suspicious
symptoms. Seven children were subsequently reported as cases of
diphtheria by the County Council ; out of these seven, three were
placed under private doctors who did not notify them. On enquiry
made at each house, the usual statement was that the child was
quite well and the idea of any diphtheria was scouted. Advice
as to the prevention of further attacks was given, but I fear that it
fell on deaf ears, for it is difficult to persuade parents that a child is
infectious unless it is so ill that it has to be confined to bed.
There were also 69 names of children attending this same
school which were sent to us from the teachers, and in each case the
sanitary inspector visited the houses concerned. Four out of the 69
were subsequently notified by private doctors as suffering from
diphtheria; one was notified as suffering from scarlet fever, and
in two other cases scarlet fever broke out at the house, but the
children so attacked were not pupils of the school first reporting.
In 15 instances I visited the houses where children lived who were
some of the 69 reported from the school as absent under suspicious
circumstances, and took specimens from the throats, which on
bacteriological examination were pronounced to be free from
diphtheria bacilli. None of these children were subsequently notified,
but a sister of one was notified some six weeks after as suffering
from diphtheria. In four children there were positive results,
only one being notified, but they all received medical attention, and
in all alike there were no subsequent cases. So far as two children
were concerned, positive results were obtained from the throat as
long as two months after the initial swabbing.
Ophthalmia neonatorum notifications were 29, being 5 less than
last year. These cases were visited as soon as possible, but it was
usually found that the patients were already under their own private
doctors, or, more usually, had been taken to hospital.
There were also a good many post cards received from the midwives
inspector of the London County Council drawing attention to
unhealthy conditions in the eyes of new-born children. Each of
these was considered, and one visit made to see if the child was
receiving all necessary attention. Owing to the great majority of
the babies already being under treatment, including nursing, we have