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bore their trouble courageously without grumbling. Fortunately the Public Health
Department was able to act as intermediary between the contacts and the Ministry
of Labour and to arrange for them to receive some out-of-work pay, much less, of
course, than their ordinary wages. It is worth considering whether out-of-work
pay should not be made payable to contacts for the whole period of exclusion from
work instead of after six days as at present. There is undoubtedly hardship
when all members of a family are prevented from working. A number of
employers have paid part wages, and in some cases the whole wage, during the
period of exclusion of contacts, but it is not every employer that can afford to
be so generous.
A Case at a Hospital.
As already mentioned, in the early part of 1929 extensive propaganda work
was carried out to secure vaccination of hospital staffs. Late in the year a case
of smallpox appeared in a non-resident worker, a stoker, who had refused to be
vaccinated although the authorities at the hospital were very keen, and practically
the whole of the staff were vaccinated if they had not been vaccinated during the
past five years. This patient became ill on 20/12/29; he got over his initial
illness and returned to work without saying much about it. That evening a
Christmas dance for the maids was going on which some of the nurses attended;
the stoker attracted by the music came over and mingled with those looking on.
The very considerable majority of these, however, were well vaccinated and
consequently protected. Subsequently the patient's rash came out and he was
removed to hospital from his home in another Metropolitan Borough. He did not
come in contact with any of the patients, either in-patients or out-patients; that
he was evidently in a very infectious condition is shown by the fact that two
further cases infected by him were subsequently removed from his home.
" Tuscania " Outbreak.
A father, mother and daughter—caretakers of lawyers' offices in the Borough
—visited a woman who had been a passenger on the "Tuscania" just previous
to her being removed to hospital with smallpox of the severe type associated with
this outbreak. The Sanitary Inspector (Mr. Clark) succeeded in getting them
vaccinated the day following his visit; the Medical Officer of Health visited
especially to detect the very first sign of the disease, and we are thankful they
did not become the means of starting a very serious outbreak.
Information Supplied Through the London County Council.
Following arrangements made in previous years, information of all cases in
the Greater London area giving particulars of the illness and the names and
addresses of contacts were distributed to Medical Officers of Health by the
Medical Officer of the London County Council. During the year upwards of 1,700
circulars with such information were received. All of these had to be carefully
looked through; 83 were found to contain the names and addresses of patients or
contacts residing or working in the Holborn Borough. Fortunately, the London
County Council have since January 1st, 1930, adopted a new method of setting out
these particulars which will lighten our task.