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The suddenness with which the disease descended upon us
made great demands upon the undertakers, whose staffs were
seriously depleted through the war, but despite this difficulty
through liberal use of the mortuary and visitation by the sanitary
inspectors to the houses where corpses were lying, it was possible
to make arrangements which largely minimised the evil. With
regard to mortuary accommodation, much more might have
been done had a larger and better equipped building been
available. The district has outgrown the small building which
has so long sufficed our needs. The Council would do well to
take into consideration at an early date the building of a mortuary
more adapted to the size and dignity of the district.
It is impossible to give any idea as to the number of cases
of Influenza that occurred in Leyton and therefore to estimate the
case fatality. Many very mild cases occur which are difficult
to differentiate from a common cold, and herein lies one of the
greatest difficulties in dealing with the disease from the preventive
aspect.
It is chiefly through individual effort that the spread
of this disease can be controlled. Crowded assemblies of people
are to be avoided when the disease is present in order to avoid
the chance of infection. The Influenza germ lives in the secretions
of the throat and nose and is expelled in the acts of coughing
and sneezing, and probably to a lesser extent in ordinary
expiration. It follows therefore that holding a handkerchief