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ENTERIC FEVER AT THE FOUNDLING HOSPITAL.
At the beginning of 1892 I presented to your Yestry a special report upon
the outbreak of Typhoid Fever that occurred at the end of 1891, in the Foundling
Hospital, and I will briefly summarise the facts:—
The number of cases of Typhoid was 35. The first case occurred about
October 6th, 1891, and the last case about December 14th, so that the outbreak
was distributed over 68 days. The disease was almost confined to the girls, only
two boys being affected (total boy population 170); it was also practically confined
to the east wing. Moreover, of the girls affected, the seniors suffered in a far
higher proportion than the juniors, there being a marked preponderance in a
certain ward called Ward G 3, and it was thought probable that this had something
to do with their duties. The girls in this ward were being trained in household
duties, and the incidence in different classes of girls in Ward G 3 was as
follows:—
Ward G 3 Total Number
Number. Attacked. centage.
Helpers 23 5 2l.7
House Girls 15 5 33. 7
Kitchen Girls 3 3 100.0
41 13 317
The clue to the cause of the outbreak was, therefore, probably to be found in
the ingesta, the almost invariable cause of the larger ontbreaks of Typhoid Fever.
Attention was therefore directed to the food, milk, and water supply. After a
prolonged and minute inquiry into these matters, the cause of the outbreak was not
disclosed.
Attention was then turned to the drainage, and it was discovered that a
certain grease trap had become contaminated with typhoid stools; that the
contaminated vapours from this grease trap, after the cooking was completed
and the copper taps were turned on for emptying and cleansing, poured into the
kitchen, basement and staircases. In short, that the infection was vapour-borne,
and this accounted for the greater incidence of the disease upon the young adults
in proportion to the more frequent opportunities their occupation presented of
inhaling the vapours, and the closer proximity in which their employment took