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37
with compulsory notification, but the wholesale removal
to hospital of children suffering from Measles is quite unnecessary
where medical attendance and adequate
domestic nursing are available. Power to remove
selected cases where these conditions cannot be obtained
is urgently required, and sufficient suitable hospital
accommodation should be provided for purposes of
treatment. From a preventive point of view, the result
of such removal is disappointing; the long incubation
period of Measles (ten to twelve days) favours its unexpected
dissemination. Moreover, the infection is most
intense before the characteristic rash appears, so that in
at least half the cases met with the disease has been
contracted from others suffering from the premonitory
or catarrhal symptoms. The power to infect probablv
continues during the height of the disease, but rapidly
subsides during convalescence; in this it is quite unlike
Scarlet Fever, which continues to be infectious long
after all remnants of local morbid action have disappeared
; this condition may persist for months, and
the germs of Scarlet Fever may lurk in clothes and
furniture for even longer. On the other hand, the
infection of Measles is fugitive, and elaborate methods
of disinfection are not required, as the plentiful use of
soap and water, together with free admission of fresh
air, effect all that is necessary.
SMALL POX AND CHICKEN POX.
Soon after the outbreak of war a communication
was received from the Local Government Board urging
the necessitv for Local Authorities to have in readiness