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133
Metropolitan Medical Officers of Health the measures which may be
employed for dealing with the disease, The compulsory notification of
the disease was discussed; but owing to the fact that a very large
number of cases are not attended by a doctor and that the provision
of the notification of Measles has been tried and abandoned in a
large number of towns as useless, the view was fairly generally entertained
that information of the existence of the disease through the
school attendance department of the London Education Authority,
was perhaps the best available means of obtaining information of
the cases. This information, however, has been rather belated in
the past; and the Local Government Board was able to arrange that,
so long as the emergency lasted, the school attendance officers should
give speedy information to the Medical Officers of Health of cases of
illness coming under their notice. The Board was also able to obtain
from the Metropolitan Asylums Board an agreement to receive cases
of Measles into their Hospitals on the recommendation of the Medical
Officer of Health, preference to be given to those most needing
hospital treatment.
A few Stoke Newington children were removed to Hospital; and
whilst the prevalence of the disease was at its height in Stoke Newington
Miss Aldridge was instructed to practically abandon all other
work in the Borough and to devote her time exclusively to visiting the
cases of Measles known to us. At the same time certain voluntary
health workers co-operated in this work. For reasons which I fully
discussed in my last Annual Report, the infant departments of all
our Elementary Schools should be closed during the epidemic prevalence
of this disease.
Miss Aldridge reports that:— “In each case of Measles which
came to out knowledge the home was at once visited and suitable
advice given. The system of notification, however, is very inadequate
to deal with serious outbreaks, for of the 25 young children who died
during the outbreak, in only 9 cases did we receive a notification of
the attack, the death-returns furnishing the only information.”
In London during the 5 years 1905-09, Measles caused 9,301
deaths, while all of the infectious diseases which were compulsorih