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difficulty attendant upon deciding when any particular case ceases
to be infectious even although continually negative bacteriological
results are obtained, and, secondly, how rapidly this disease
spreads, and how particularly fatal it becomes in any what may be
termed virgin soil:—
A patient, G. C., was admitted to the Brook Hospital on
March 16th, from the Royal Hospital School in this District,
suffering from Scarlet Fever. The patient was transferred to the
Convalescent Hospital on April 15th. A case of Diphtheria
occurred in the Ward in which this patient was an inmate, whereupon
bacteriological cultivations were made of specimens from
all the occupants in this Ward, with a result that this patient,
G. C., was found to be harbouring Diphtheria bacilli. He was
isolated and treated for this disease, making to all appearances a
very satisfactory recovery. Ten bacteriological examinations
were made with respect to this patient during the time he was
under treatment. The first eight up till June 30th giving generally
positive results, the latter two taken during the beginning of July
both from the nose and throat gave consistently negative results.
Throughout the whole of his stay at the Hospital he showed no
clinical signs of Diphtheria whatever, being discharged on
July 7th. On his discharge he was kept isolated for a few days
and then allowed to mix with the other boys in the School. No
case of Diphtheria arose in the School between the date of this
patient's discharge from the Hospital and the closing of the
School for the summer vacation.
Unfortunately, however, one boy as soon as he reached home
developed the disease and died in two days ; the patient, G. C.,
went to his home in a somewhat isolated part of Ireland on July
30th, and after his return home five members of the family