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19
Annual Report of the Medical Officer of Health—1897.
(2) In Section 15 of the Factory and Workshop Act, 1883, the words "which
was not so let or occupied before the first day of June, 1883," shall be repealed.
(3) A place underground shall not be used as a bakehouse, unless it is so used at
the commencement of this Act, and if any place is so used in contravention of this
Act it shall be deemed to be a workshop not kept in conformity with the principal Act."
It will be seen, after 30 years of tentative legislation, Government has recognised
the fact that the underground bakehouses should cease to exist. The prohibition of
any underground workplace used afresh as a bakery after the 1st January, 1896, may
be reasonably regarded as a first step towards their entire removal.
The Notification of infectious Diseases.
Certain maladies have been made notifiable in London since the passing of the
Infectious Diseases (Notification) Act, 1889. They comprise:—small-pox, cholera,
diphtheria, membranous croup, erysipelas, the disease known as scarlatina, or scarlet
fever, and the fevers known by any of the following names:—typhus, typhoid,
enteric, relapsing, continued or puerperal.
In 1897, the sum in fees paid to medical practitioners for notifying 679 infectious
cases in St. George's, amounted to £76 15s. 6d.
This amount, paid in the first instance by your Vestry, is recouped by the Asylums
Board, and charged to the Metropolitan Common Poor Fund. 75 9 per cent. of the
total number of cases notified in the parish during 1897 were removed to the Asylums
Board and other Hospitals. During 1892 67 per cent., in 1893 34 per cent., in 1894
44 per cent., in 1895 46 per cent., and in 1896 43 per cent. of such cases were
treated in these institutions.
The decrease of admissions during 1893, 1894, 1895 and 1896, was due to the
overcrowded state of the hospitals. It has been my duty to record for several years
past the failure of the Metropolitan Asylums Board to provide sufficient infection
accommodation, and I regret that the experiences of the past year show that there is
urgent need for further hospital accommodation for such diseases. Last year I
remarked in connection with the diphtheria outbreak in Cornbury Street, (p. 35 of 1896
Report.)" It also illustrates once more the short-comings of the Metropolitan
Asylums Board in the provision of adequate infectious accommodation for that poverty
stricken district."
It is important to bear in mind that prompt isolation alone can obviate the danger
resulting from the detention of infectious patients in so poor and densely packed a
district at St. George's.
Room Disinfection.
It will be within the memory of your Vestry that during the year 1896 a
considerable amount of attention was given to the subject of room disinfection.
As a result of my personal experience and investigation I expressed the conclusion
that the system of administration as then practised was imperfect. Among the chief
cause of such imperfection the following were mentioned (page 24 of my Annual
Report, for 1896):—
(a) Want of a refuge house.
(b) Want of a larger staff of disinfectors.
c) Want of a special inspector to deal with infectious diseases.