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48
SMALL-POX.
No cases of Small-pox occurred in the City in 1903; but during the year
48 "contacts" (persons who had been in the company of those suffering from
Small-pox) employed in the City were reported from other districts. This
resulted, upon the advice of your Medical Officer of Health, in the re-vaccination
of 118 persons on premises where the other contacts were employed.
The names and addresses of 46 employes who refused vaccination were
communicated to the Medical Officer of Health of the several districts in which
they resided. Eight workshops (in three premises) were disinfected at the
request of the occupiers, and 27 articles of clothing from premises, where
Small-pox had occurred, outside the City were disinfected.
In the course of the year 1,508 persons were re-vaccinated by Public
Vaccinators in the City.
MEASLES.
On the 20th January, 1903, the London County Council issued an order
approved by the Local Government Board, which came into force on the 1st
April following, declaring Measles to be a dangerous infectious disease within
the limits of the Administrative County of London for the purposes of
Sections 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 68, 69, 70, 72, 73 and 74 of the Public
Health (London) Act, 1891. These Sections deal with disinfection, shelters,
clothing, infected rubbish, letting of houses, wilful exposure, transmission of
infected clothing, milk and fruit trade, use of public conveyances, burial of
dead, removal of corpses, and use of hearses—but do not require notification
or removal to Hospital. Although it was not quite clear that legal power
existed for making such order, it was clearly advisable that such restrictions
should be imposed in the case of a disease so extremely infectious, and which
is directly and indirectly the cause of so many deaths among our infantile
population.
As a matter of fact, it should be noted that the precautions with regard to
disinfection and removal of families to Shelter, &c., have been for many years
practised within the City.
MEASLES-CLOSURE OF ST. BOTOLPH'S INFANT SCHOOL,
BISHOPSGATE STREET WITHIN.
In June last I considered it advisable to recommend the closing of the above
School, as, since the 4th May, 26 of the children had been attacked with
Measles, 2 were then excluded on account of the disease in the same house, and
9 others were " suspected," a total of 45 out of 78 scholars on the roll.