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7
valuable help he gave us in this direction. The policy
that was followed in the management of contacts varied ;
in a few cases, where it appeared perfectly safe, contacts
after being disinfected and re-vaccinated were allowed to
go about, but in nearly all the cases the contacts were
quarantined and compensated, and, personally, I have
a feeling of satisfaction that all the money spent in this
way was well invested, and helped to save a much larger
expenditure. There is only one other point that needs
any notice in this connection and that is, did I find the
Notification of Chicken-pox, of any value ? I can certainly
answer that I did, for in one case it helped me to trace
the origin of the disease, and to detect two other cases,
and in another outbreak it also was the means of doing
good, for though an initial mistake was made in the
diagnosis, we were able to keep the other inmates of the
house under observation, and deal with them promptly
when they became ill.
During the early part of the year the extra work
thrown upon Mr. Willett by the epidemic of Small-pox
and other infectious disease prevented anything more
than the ordinary routine work of the department being
carried out, but owing to the wise action of the Council
in appointing an Assistant Inspector in September last,
it has since then been possible to make a good start in
House-to-House Inspection, and I am pleased to be able
to draw attention to the very satisfactory figures of the
work that has been done in this branch. At present, we
are only inspecting houses of the annual value of £30 and
under, but it is to be hoped that when all these have been
inspected we shall be able to tackle the other houses
in the district.
The Factory and Workshops Act, of 1901, came into
force on the first of January, and has thrown extra work
and responsibility on the Sanitary Department. I am
able to report that we now have a register in conformity