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The work of the temporary Inspectors included:—Underground dwellings,
3874 inspections, 288 re-inspections; inquiries as to occupation of stable
dwellings, 1415 inspections, 15 re-inspections; mensuration of houses for
registration, 475 inspections, 20 re-inspections; inscribed dwellings, 215
inspections, 598 re-inspections; early morning visits as to overcrowding,
2269 inspections, 158 re-inspections; and some inspections and re-inspections
of varied kinds.
The following is the Special Inspector's Report:—
St. Pancras Town Hall,
9th March, 1903.
To the Medical Officer of Health.
Sir,
I beg to submit my report for the year 1902.
Small-pox.
During the recent small-pox epidemic I investigated 480 certified cases of
small-pox. It was not found necessary to obtain a magistrate's order to
compulsory remove a small-pox patient to hospital, the relatives and friends
being only too anxious for prompt removal. Upon the receipt of a notification
certificate the case was telephoned to the Metropolitan Asylums Board for
removal, and the disinfectors were instructed, and sometimes arrived at the
premises at the same time as the ambulance nurse.
I experienced considerable difficulty in getting the bodies of small-pox
patients who died at home removed to the infectious disease mortuary,
undertakers not caring about the work, and the difficulty was increased
tenfold when it became known that two assisfant undertakers had been
removed to hospital suffering from small-pox after removing an infected
body.
There were two cases in which police court proceedings were taken under
Sec. 68 P. H. (L.) A. 1891 "for wilful exposure in a public place while
suffering from small-pox." The maximum penalty of £5 was inflicted in
each case. One defendant had been suffering from small-pox for some two or
three weeks, during which time he had been following the calling of a
firewood seller. It was not until he had infected his wife and child that the
nature of his complaint was discovered, and while being aware of his
infectious condition he walked about the public streets and visited public
houses in the Borough before he was conveyed to hospital.
The other defendant walked from Highgate to Deptford with the doctor's
certificate in his pocket certifying that he had got small-pox. Luckily such
cases us these were rare.
Personal Cleansing and Disinfection of Clothing of Small-pox Contacts.
Arrangements were made in January to convert the family shelter into a
personal cleansing station. From 28th January to 31st July, 1902, 684
contacts were cleansed and had their clothing disinfected.