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57
Small-pox.
Three cases of small-pox were removed from the Borough in 1927,
all of them of a particularly virulent type—of the three cases two
died, and one, who was protected by vaccination, survived.
The first two cases, a mother aged 42, vaccinated in infancy and a
daughter aged 16, unvaccinated, were diagnosed by me on April 23rd
in a Nursing Home to which they had been brought from Hendon as
cases of chicken-pox on April 17th, there being also other members of
the family sick who were thought then to be suffering from chickenpox.
I arranged for their immediate removal to Long Reach. Every
person who had been in contact with these cases who could be vaccinated
was vaccinated; all bedding and textiles in the room which could possibly
spread infection were immediately removed and burned; the room occupied
by the patients was disinfected and sealed up, and everyone in the
house placed under surveillance. No further cases arose at this Nursing
Home. The unvaccinated girl died. As the permanent address of these
patients was in Hendon the cases were recorded there and not in
Hampstead.
Fourteen days later I was asked to see a suspicious case in the person
of a woman aged 40, unvaccinated, in another house in the same road,
and found the patient to be suffering from small-pox of a similar type
to the other two. The patient was immediately removed and all precautions
taken as before; the bedding and clothing was burned and the
room disinfected; inmates of the house were vaccinated and placed under
surveillance, and all contacts possible were traced and the different
districts warned. This case terminated fatally.
In view of the possibility of the spread of the disease owing to the
fact that the cases were not promptly recognised, posters were exhibited
in the Borough and handbills issued advising the public to avail themselves
of the protection which vaccination afforded.
The Ministry of Health and the London County Council were kept
informed of the details of the cases, and the Poor Law Guardians and
their Officers, including the Public Vaccinators, were informed of the
occurrence of small-pox, and warned that a considerable proportion of
the community might seek vaccination.
Upon the invitation of the Chairman of the Committee, one of the
members of the Board of Guardians (Mr. Councillor Boness) attended the
meeting of the Public Health Committee, and informed them of the