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15
Disinfection and Disinfestation
A summary of the routine work of the disinfecting staff
is shown in the following table :-
Houses disinfected after infectious disease 234 ( 333 rooms)
Houses disinfested after vermin 550 (1412 rooms)
Loads of furniture treated with hydrogen
cyanide 33
Total weight of furniture, bedding, etc. dealt with:-
54 tons 7 cwt. 1 qtr. 13 lb.
It is the practice of certain foreign countries to
prohibit the import of parcels of clothing, unless accompanied
with a certificate that the articles have been disinfected.
The Council afford facilities to persons desirous of sending
clothing abroad, but make a charge of 2/6d. for each
certificate provided. During the year, 60k parcels of clothing
were disinfected and the income amounted to £75. 10s. 0d.
The following table indicates the destination of these parcels :-
No, of parcels
Hungary 228
Czechoslovakia 196
Russia 13
Turkey 1
Esthonia 2
+ Unknown 164
+ All these parcels were dealt with by one Kensington
firm of exporters.
Some countries allow the import of clothing if
accompanied by a certificate stating that no case of infectious
disease has occurred at the sender's address within twenty-one
days prior to mailing. During the year, twenty-two such
certificates were issued.
H.C.N. Disinfestation
For many years past, the Council have adopted the policy
of disinfesting with H.C.N. the furniture and household effects
of all tenants moving to new Council property, as a method of
preventing bed bugs being taken from old houses into the new
dwellings.
In recent years, there has been considerable reduction
in the number of bug infested houses in the borough, no doubt
due to the introduction of new and effective insecticides such
as D.D.T.
This disinfestation of furniture service was proving
costly, both in its operation and in the fact that the occupation
of new flats was unavoidably held up owing to the disinfestation
plant being able only to treat two loads per day. The
problem was considered by the Public Health Committee and it
was eventually agreed to abandon the policy of treating the
furniture of all incoming tenants, irrespective of whether
there was evidence of infestation or not, and substitute the
following scheme :-
(a) A sanitary inspector will examine the
furniture and present home of each prospective tenant;
(b) If bug infestation is present, the furniture
will be dealt with by H.C.N, in the normal way;