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72
Report of the Medical Officer of Health.
"The particulars of the outbreak are as follows:-On
the 28th May, a notification was received from the Deputy
Medical Officer to the effect that a child, Alice Greggs, aged
nine years, was suffering from Diphtheria and had been
removed to hospital the day previous. This was followed on
the 29th by a notification of a second case, Florrie Whitmore,
aged nine, and on the same day a third, Doris Lenton, who
was notified by the Medical Officer—Dr. A. E. Dodson. These
three cases had definite clinical symptoms, but I was of
opinion that it was most important that the throats of all the
children should be swabbed so that any 'carrier' case could
be at once excluded.
"On the 29th May, I communicated with the Deputy
Medical Officer and advised him that it would be desirable to
swab the throats of the children who had been in contact with
the cases which had been notified. I was informed that Dr.
Dodson had visited the schools himself, and I thereupon communicated
with him on the matter. The Medical Officer at my
request, on 29th May, took swabs from the throats of 44 children,
and on bacteriological examination it was found that in
three cases the Klebs Loeffler bacilli were found, in 34 Hoffman's
bacilli were found, while only seven gave negative
results.
"On the 31st May, another case with clinical symptoms
was notified by the Medical Officer, viz.:—Thomas Holyoake,
aged seven, and as this boy slept in a dormitory which had
not previously been infected I advised the Medical Officer to
take swabs from the throats of all the children in the other
dormitories in that block. This was done on the 31st May,
and the report showed that in seven cases Klebs Loeffler
bacilli were present, in 11 Hoffman's bacilli, while in 30 a
negative result was obtained.
"All the cases in which Klebs Loeffler bacilli were found
were removed to hospital.
"On the 3rd June I visited the schools in company with
the Medical Officer and made enquiries as to the possible