London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
City of Westminster 1915
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Westminster, City of]
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34
Disinfection.
Below is shown the number of rooms and articles disinfected by the
Staff of the Department. The premises included 15 schoolrooms,
22 shops and 16 offices; 9 vehicles were also disinfected, and 15 sacks
of letters from abroad. In 15 cases of infectious disease treated at
home the laundry linen was collected weekly and disinfected.
The following table gives a comparative statement of the above work during the past seven years:—
| 1909. | 1910. | 1911. | 1912. | 1913. | 1914. | 1915. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premises | 1,287 | 841 | 979 | 1,020 | 1,410 | 1,650 | 2,017 |
| Rooms | 1,865 | 1,284 | 1,449 | 1,346 | 1,796 | 2,461 | 2,637 |
| Articles disinfected | 49,843 | 26,850 | 26,264 | 34,478 | 53,567 | 57,591 | 41,561 |
| Articles washed | — | 514 | 782 | 4,999 | 8,210 | 4,807 | 2,590 |
| Articles destroyed | 186 | 1,651 | 496 | 699 | 1,567 | 2,047 | 2,220 |
| Books disinfected | 281 | 595 | 266 | 815 | 1,810 | 414 | 77 |
| Number of persons admitted to shelters | 6 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — |
Arising out of the War, disinfection was carried out in 841 instances.
| Room | Articles. | Vehicles. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Disinfected. | Destroyed. | |||
| Military Deôpts, Offices and Hospitals | 112 | 6,710 | 1,512 | 8 |
| Belgian and Polish Refugees | 609 | 1,446 | — | — |
| 721 | 8,156 | 1,512 | 8 | |
440 tins of dressings from hospitals were collected and destroyed.
Cleansing of Persons.—Adults.—The Guardians deal with the
frequenters of their casual wards, and at certain of the common lodging
houses and Huts for Soldiers facilities are provided for the inmates;
39 adults had baths at the station, and 545 articles of clothing were
cleansed of vermin.
Children.—1,136 baths were given to 407 school children suffering
from vermin, sent by arrangement by the County Council. It is
essential that at the same time as the children are treated at the
station, their bedding should also be stoved, so as to destroy any
vermin in it, and for this purpose the homes of those resident in
Westminster were visited. It happens in a proportion of the cases that
other members of a family than those at school age are affected, and