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Council had made an order on February 7th, 1911, approved by the Local
Government Board, that section 55 of the Public Health (London) Act,
1891, with respect to the notification of infectious disease shall apply, in
the Administrative County of London to the disease known as ophthalmia
neonatorum.
The order with reference to ophthalmia neonatorum came into
operation on March 13th, 1911.
The midwives practising within the Borough of Poplar were
circularised calling attention to the above Order, the effect of which is: —
To require that, on becoming aware that the inmate of any
house, building, vessel, tent, van, shed, or similar structure used
for human habitation within the Administrative County of London,
is suffering from ophthalmia neonatorum, the head of the family to
which the patient belongs, and in his default the nearest relatives
of the patient present in the house or in attendance on the patient,
and in default of such relatives every person in charge of or in
attendance on the patient, and, in default of such person, the
master of the house or other similar structure, shall send notice of
the case to the Medical Officer of Health of the sanitary district in
which the house or structure is situated; and every medical
practitioner attending on or called in to visit the patient shall send
to the same Medical Officer of Health a certificate giving full
particulars of the case.
Every person required by the statute to send a notice or
certificate who fails forthwith to send the same will be liable to a
fine not exceeding forty shillings.
Conference of Metropolitan Medical Officers of Health.
A Conference of Metropolitan Medical Officers of Health was held on
March 17th. Sir Shirley P. Murphy, Medical Officer of Health for the
London County Council, was present.
The Conference was called for the purpose of discussing the best
methods of dealing with cases of ophthalmia neonatorum, and it was
decided that with regard to cases of inflammation of the eye in the newly
born, notified to Sir Shirley F. Murphy by midwives
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