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24
NOTIFICATION OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE.
As notifications are frequently received of cases of infectious
diseases occurring in streets which are adjacent to the Parish, and
not belonging to it, some delay is occasioned thereby, and a full list
of the streets in the Parish is therefore set out in an appendix, for
the benefit mainly of medical practitioners.
DISINFECTION.
The employment of formic aldehyde for the surface disinfection
of rooms continues to prove satisfactory. There is no reason to
believe that it has failed in its object in a single instance throughout
the year. There are no greater difficulties or inconveniences
attending its use than those which apply to the use of sulphurous
acid, and it possesses the great advantages that it is more certain
in its disinfectant action and does not injure any article of furniture
or ornamentation exposed to it.
There has been a large amount of disinfectant solution given
away during the year. This free distribution of disinfectant is of
high value as a means of preventing the spread of infectious illness,
and it is a necessary countermove to check the use of the cheap
and useless disinfectants otherwise purchased by the poorer
parishioners.
HOSPITAL ISOLATION.
During the year we experienced little difficulty in getting
parishioners into the hospital with promptness, and in this
respect our experience was in pleasing contrast to that of preceding
years.
The population is increasing rapidly, and with this increase the
conditions which facilitate the spread of infection are multiplying by
reason of the overcrowding which is everywhere increasing. As the
public become more educated in public health matters and the value
of preventive measures, it will demand some provision for isolating
measles, whooping cough, and consum ption.