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Many of those in Poor Law institutions had been inmates of or
owed the origin of their attack to inmates of common lodging houses.
In the largest common lodging house a dormitory was set aside as an
isolation ward, and anyone found to be ailing was at once isolated. By
this means a number of cases were removed at the early stage from
among their fellows before there was so much danger of communicating
infection. Had these persons been re-vaccinated on the occurrence of
the first case, there is no doubt that not only would there have been no
more eases in these establishments, but many cases throughout Westminster
and throughout London would also have been prevented,
lie-vaccination was urged upon the inmates, but the proportion who
accepted it was not large, except in the smaller houses, and in one large
house where the owner guaranteed each man a shilling when the
operation was performed and a weekper cent.s free lodging if the man was
unable to work because of it; the inmates, who were all regular users of
this house, took advantage of the offer, and there were no further cases
of small-pox among them.
It is interesting to note that small-pox did not spread among the
women as it did among the men; there were only three cases in two
womenper cent.s lodging houses with 120 inmates, while in another on the
opposite side of the street from the menper cent.s lodging house, which had the
greatest number of cases, had no person affected.