View report page

36
hours and more especially when an infectious disease is prevalent, it
would be useful to spray the atmosphere, desks, etc. of school rooms
with a solution of disinfecting fluid.
As to the cause of the disease, it is very difficult to give any definite
opinion. It might have been due in the first instance to a mild case
which had been overlooked, for even during the prevalence of the
disease children were known to have suffered from bad throats, and
yet have not been notified as suffering from diphtheria. Subsequently
the common symptoms which occur after diphtheria set in, thus clearly
proving the patient had had the complaint. It was pointed out to
the Committee that a naked eye examination of a throat could not
determine whether a patient was suffering from diphtheria, and a like
examination could not possible enable a medical practitioner to state
whether a patient's throat was free from the germs, and that with a
patient convalescent or even recovered from diphtheria the germs of
this disease may be found in the throat for many weeks, and if such
patient return to school there is grave danger of the complaint
spreading among the scholars.
Diphtheria notifications are most difficult matters to deal with, and
at the present time there is under consideration a scheme for bacteriologically
examining the throats of children before they are allowed to
return to school. The medical practitioners of the district and its
immediate neighbourhood are being communicated with. There is
no doubt that a large number of cases of diphtheria notified are not
the complaint, and a bacteriological examination can only determine
this matter, for, as stated above, mild cases of diphtheria may be
considered as simple sore throats and passed over as ordinary colds.
There is no doubt that the medical practioners would be glad to
avail themselves of any means in order to correctly diagnose such a
dire complaint.
The Committee directed that the ditches on the island should be
cleansed, and during the prevalence of the disease they visited the