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13
There remain 22. Of these 3 were certainly contracted
without the district, 2 were doubtful cases, 2 were house-to-house
infections other than those already mentioned.
A group of 5 primary and 8 secondary cases arose in Claremont
Street and the Langhedge in September, the origin of
which is difficult to exactly determine, it may have been an off
shoot from the large Brettenham Road group, but appeared to
me to have arisen in a large Sunday School situated at the
extreme southern end of the district, as the first two cases of the
group developed the disease almost on the same day, and both
children had been to this school on the Sunday before the date
of onset; a third possibility is worthy of mention : two members
of one of the families were employed as maid-servants in one of
the hospitals of the Metropolitan Asylums Board, and at this
hospital one of them had contracted the disease, and had been a
patient there ; on her recovery, after the very complete precautions
usually observed at these hospitals, she was sent home,
and within a week other members of the family, one of whom
had slept with her, developed the disease. The group had, however,
been started prior to this, and as one of the houses (in
which the disease had not been discovered until 4 cases had
occurred) was in the next street, I regarded this as an instance
in which the hospital might well disclaim being the source of
infection. The Hospital Authorities acted with great generosity
in the matter, and on the case being brought to their knowledge
by their employee, took 2 of the cases.
Of the remaining 10 primary cases, 4 were persons above
school age, who contracted the disease probably in the course of
their daily avocations. One was a child under school age not
referable to any group, one was in the Edmonton portion of Bush
Hill Park, and the others presented no special features for comment.
Concerning the cases in the Edmonton Workhouse, the
following facts seem worthy of note: In September a family
named Clements sought admission to the Workhouse from
Southgate; a few days after they were received one of them
developed scarlet fever, and was sent to the Enfield Isolation
Hospital, and on enquiry it transpired that another member of
the family had also had scarlet fever, and had been sent to
hospital only a few days before the family were sent to the
Workhouse, the child on recovery was returned from the hospital