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64
Report of the Medical Officer of Health.
On the 23rd June, the three in whom the Hoffman's bacillus
was found were again swabbed, and in two the Hoffman's bacillus
was still present, while in the other the result was negative.
On the 3rd April I made personal inquiries at the Institution,
and I came to the conclusion that the first case had been caused
by a child who had been admitted at the end of January from the
country, and that the other cases were due to secondary infection.
I advised the medical attendant to swab the throats of all the
inmates, but this was not done thoroughly until the 23rd May.
The cases were all removed to hospital and the premises were
thoroughly disinfected, the children having been sent away for a
time, and after their return no further cases occurred.
On the 1st October a case was notified to me from No. 66,
St. Ann's Hill, Wandsworth, a home for boys of defective intellect
belonging to the Metropolitan Asylums Board, and under the
special circumstances I advised the medical attendant to at once
swab the throats of the inmates.
This was done on the 4th October, with the result that of 19
swabs taken, in one the Klebs Loeffler bacillus was found, in
seven the Hoffman's bacillus, and in 11 no bacilli were found.
On the 4th October a second case and on the 5th a third case
were notified, the fourth case on the 8th, and the fifth case on
the 9th.
On the 8th, 16 swabs were taken, in one of which the Klebs
Loeffler bacillus was found, in three the Hoffman's bacillus, and
12 were negative.
14 swabs were taken on the 24th October, but no Klebs
Loeffler bacilli were found in any of the specimens, although in
six the Hoffman's bacillus was present.
The cases which showed the presence of the Hoffman's bacillus
were treated and kept under observation for some time, but
no further cases of true Diphtheria occurred.
The following Table shows the number of cases of Diphtheria
and their relationship to the schools in the Borough.