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26 SEPTIC DISEASES.
The Y. and F. families resided in the same house, the former (comprising father, mother,
and 5 children) occupying the ground floor (3 rooms), the latter (comprising the same number
of persons) the basement (2 rooms). There was no legal overcrowding. Of the Y. family
all the members were reported ill with the disease except the father, who, however, had a
slight illness of short duration and uncertain nature towards the end of November. Of the
F. family two only were affected. Very special attention was given to the disinfection of
the house after each case, staircases, closets (2), &c., being sprayed with formalin, and the
closet apparatus, gulleys, &c., flushed with the same disinfectant. It is remarkable that there
was no case among the four other families occupying the upper floors of the house.
The intervals between each attack in the Y. family, especially if the periods which
elapsed between the onsets of the cases and dates of removal to hospital be taken into
consideration, point clearly to transference of infection from person to person. Beds were
shared by the children, but no note was made of the persons sleeping with each patient,
except in the last two cases.
As regards the F. family, some suspicion was aroused that this family might have been
infected by clothes brought down from the ground floor to be washed in the wash-house
(common to the whole house) which is in the basement. Against that theory is the fact that
the other families residing in the house escaped—although they used the wash-house. On
the whole, it appears to be more probable that the two F. lads were infected directly from
the Y. children.
The experience here set out makes it clear that cases of enteric fever cannot be safely
treated in tenement houses, and in future all cases will be removed to hospital. The facts
given above should be sufficient to convince any Court of the urgency of such removal,
should it be necessary to resort to legal measures.

* Sickness rate per 1,000 females aged 15-45 years. † Deaths per 100 cases notified.
‡ Death-rate per 1,000 females aged 15-45 years.
There was a decrease in the number of cases of this form of "fever" reported in the
Borough during the past year, but the total number of cases (7) was more than double
the total for 1903 (3) and only one below the corrected decennial average. In the whole
Metropolis there was a rise from 274 cases in 1904 to 291 last year, the corrected decennial
average being 276 cases. The numbers of cases reported in the Adjacent Districts and the
morbidity rates will be found in Tables 7 and 8.
In Church Ward only were the cases reported last year equal to the number for 1904.
(See Table 9.)
* Under this heading are included "erysipelas," "other septic diseases," and "puerperal fever," the first and
last being included in the schedule for notification.