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51
Report of the Medical Officer of Health.
this locality, and cases of Diphtheria are constantly occurring. This
he attributes to the condition of the soil, and also to the class of
people who occupy the houses in the locality.
It has not hitherto been the practice of the Croydon Rural
Authorities to notify to the teachers of the schools where infected
children attend of the existence of any infectious disease, although the
parents were always instructed not to send the children to school.
I have had a consultation with the Medical Officer of Health for
the Croydon Rural District on the matter, and he has arranged that
prompt information will in future be sent to the school, and also to
myself of the occurence of any case of infectious disease in that locality
among children attending schools in this Borough.
I am, Gentlemen,
Your Obedient Servant,
P. CALDWELL SMITH,
Medical Officer of Health.
The result of the school closure was that the disease was
immediately checked, no cases having been notified in June or July,
and only one each in August and October. The class-rooms were
thoroughly disinfected in May by the sanitary staff.
The other school with reference to which special inquiries were
made was Immanuel School. Here the number of cases were not so
numerous, and in the earlier part of the year, up to the holidays, only
three cases occurred among the pupils. In October, however, ten
cases occured, and the following report was made on the matter on
the 20th of that month:—
Gentlemen,
At the meeting of the Public Health Committee, held on the
6th October, I repoited verbally on a fatal case of Diphtheria which
attended Immanuel School, Streatham Common, and that this case
was, in all probability, infected by umecognised cases from Lonesome
attending this school.
On the 6th October, information was received by me of a fatal
case of Diphtheria in the person of L. B. This child attended Immanuel