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9
Small Pox. One case of this disease was notified. The
subject of it was a tramp admitted into the casual ward of the
Union Workhouse. He was promptly removed to the Small Pox
Hospital and no other case of the disease occurred.
Scarlet Fever. This disease was more rife than it has been
for some years past. It was very prevalent in localities beyond
the Urban District, and although it never assumed the
features of an epidemic, it occurred in an isolated manner over
mainly the Town Ward and the Harold Wood Ward. Most of
the cases were removed to the Isolation Hospital, and to this I
attribute the fact that the disease was fairly kept within bounds.
115 cases were notified during the year.
The steps taken to prevent the spread of Scarlet Fever are
as under :—If the case is removed to the Hospital, the Sanitary
Inspector at once disinfects the rooms, bedding, &c., and when
the wall and ceiling are especially dirty, notice is served on the
owner to re-paper and whitewash. When the case is not removed,
the disinfection is done after the patient has ceased to be
infectious, and in these instances, the bedding, &c., which has
necessarily become more infectious than when the patient is removed
in the early stages of the disease, is taken to the Hospital
disinfector. That these steps for checking the spread of the
disease are successful is shown by the fact that it is very rare
for a second case to occur in the same family, except where the
disease has been simultaneously caused by exposure to the same
source of infection as the first case removed.
Diphtheria. 27 cases of this disease were notified, some of
which, on bacteriological examination, were shown not to be
cases of diphtheria. In no instance did it assume an epidemic
form.
Enteric Fever. Six cases were notified, two of them having
been brought into the Union Infirmary from beyond the district.