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It was further resolved, "That in the opinion of the Conference it is advisable
"that application be made to the Metropolitan Asylums Board to send out to
"every Medical Officer of Health in London daily lists of Small-pox cases
"only, with age and addresses of patients, as is done weekly in the case of all
"infectious diseases." Upon the consideration of a letter addressed by the
Council of the Metropolitan Borough of St. Pancras to the President of the
Local Government Board with regard to the steps to be taken to prevent the
spread of Small-pox by contact, a resolution was passed to the effect that the
Local Government Board be informed that it was desirable to amend the law
by providing that when a person inhabits any part of a house in which there
have been cases of Small-pox, and knowingly associates with other persons
without having his own person and clothes disinfected and cleansed to the
satisfaction of the Local Sanitary Authority, he should be liable to a penalty
not exceeding 20/.
The Public Health Department alone has information as to the existence of
disease, and would be in possession of all information as to the protection of
the various parts of their District.
The Sanitary Authority has a Medical Officer capable of and charged with
the duty of directly advising it in all matters relating to vaccination, while
under the present system the Boards of Guardians have not.
In all recent epidemics the Sanitary Authority has been invested with the
duty of combating the spread of the disease, and if such authority had had
the control of the vaccination arrangements, its Officers would have been in a
far better position to cope with it.
Obviously, in the presence of an outbreak, the case becomes much stronger.
If the Sanitary Authority had the Public Vaccinator and Vaccination Officer,
then, under their control, they would be enabled to arrange for the
immediate protection of all persons in the vicinity of any case, and to ascertain
when such protection had been provided.
In the City the Board of Guardians are anxious to do all that is possible,
and the Vaccination Officer is most zealous in his duties, but even now the
dual system is productive of much inconvenience and delay.
Not only is much valuable time lost in communicating with the Vaccination
Officer, who, in his turn, has to communicate with the Public Vaccinator, but
there is very great difficulty in obtaining information as to the results of such
action.
Lists of "Contacts" are received daily by your Medical Officer, and these,
with the assistance of a special temporary Inspector, are at once visited, and
the advisability of re-vaccination urged upon all who are in the same building.