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9
Day Nurseries.—Two of these exist within the
Borough and one just outside it. They all receive
grants in aid from the Ministry of Health. About 100
children in all attend them daily whilst their mothers
are at work. They are disinfected, washed and fed,
and all seem happy at play, which is often in the open
air. The one in Somerford Street exists in a building
which is unworthy of it—yet the place is very popular,
and it deserves a milk grant.
INFECTIOUS DISEASE.
The continued prevalence of Diphtheria and Scarlet
Fever in London is a matter of much concern to those
in sanitary charge. In Bethnal Green there were 493
cases of diphtheria as against 566 in the previous year,
and 333 cases of scarlet fever as against 426. The
number of cases was fairly equally distributed throughout
the year, but, as is usual, I think, more cases
occurred following the school summer holidays than at
any other period of the year. This Borough did not
compare unfavourably with some other areas and the
number of cases was less than in 1924, yet this is more
than should be the case and this comment applies
throughout most parts of London. It cannot, in fact,
be regarded otherwise than as a terrible reflection on
the sanitary efficiency of London, and I am of opinion
that it imperatively demands a commission of inquiry
with a view to ascertaining more precisely the causation
of such outbreaks and why they are so prolonged.
I desire here to enter a very earnest protest against
the admission or retention for treatment of any case of
infectious disease in any general hospital in this or any
other Borough. For example, a case of typhoid fever
in a children's hospital would be especially dangerous
from the point of view of the spread of infection. It is
a remarkable fact that in most cases no relationship
whatever can be found to exist with other cases, and
this is a very unusual experience and one that has not
been observed in other large towns which have their