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On receipt of a notification the case is invariably visited within
twenty-four hours. Full inquiries are made with a view to ascertaining
the existence of other cases in the same house or amongst
the relatives and associates of the patient, and also as to the conditions
under which he works and lives ; printed instructions are
given as to the precautions necessary to be taken to prevent the
spread of infection; spitting bottle and disinfectants are supplied,
and when the case is kept at home every endeavour is made to
impress on the patient and family the importance of adhering
strictly to the instructions, and more especially see that the window
of his room is always kept open. The cases are also visited periodically,
and should any insanitary conditions be found to exist,
their removal is at once seen to.
The number of houses and rooms disinfected for this complaint
during the year was 69, and the articles—clothing, bedding,
etc.—dealt with numbered 407.
MEASLES.
This disease was most prevalent in Ponders End.
I became aware of 349 cases which were notified to us from
the various schools under an arrangement made between the
Council and the Education Committee, but there can be no doubt
that the total number of cases was much in excess of this, for the
working-class mother does not as a rule trouble to send for the
doctor when she has measles in the house until one or more of the
children are suffering from Pneumonia, the most usual cause of
death in this disease.