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15
INFECTIOUS DISEASES, AND THE MEANS TAKEN
TO PREVENT THEIR SPREAD.
It will be seen from Table IV. that 215 cases of infectious
diseases were notified during the year, as against 108 in the preceding
year, 90 in 1900, and 170 in 1899. Of these, 8 were Small-pox,
22 Diphtheria, 02 Scarlet Fever, 8 Typhoid Fever, 1 Puerperal Fever,
9 Erysipelas, and 105 Chicken-pox. It will be seen at once, therefore,
that this large total, as compared with previous years, was due
to the inclusion of Chicken-pox amongst the " notifiable diseases,"
which accounted for nearly half the total number of infectious diseases
notified, and was made notifiable for a definite period only, and for a
special purpose, namely, in order that no case of Small-pox mistaken
for Chicken-pox might be overlooked. For comparative purposes,
therefore, I shall consider that there were 110 cases of ordinarily
notifiable diseases ; these were notified from the different localities,
as follows :—28 from Southgate, 30 from New Southgate, 13 from
Winchmore Hill, and 33 from Palmers Green and Bowes.
The 110 cases represent infection in 87 houses, all of which
were subsequently disinfected by the Sanitary Authority. In all
cases disinfectants were supplied, instructions given as to the carrying
out of isolation as efficiently as possible in cases of non-removal to
the Hospital, and the sanitary condition of the premises inspected.
In 20 houses sanitary defects were found, consisting chiefly of
defective water closets and unpaved yards. These defects have all
been remedied under the supervision of the Sanitary Authority.
The notification of these diseases was, therefore, the means of
causing the inspection, apart from ordinary inspections, of 87 premises,
and the remedy of insanitary conditions in 20.
Sixty-eight cases in all—8 Small-pox, 40 Scarlet Fever, 11 Diphtheria,
and 3 Typhoid Fever were removed to Isolation Hospitals,
57 to the Southgate Council's Hospital, 3 to the Enfield Hospital, and
8 (small-pox) to the South Minims Small-pox Hospital.
The Infectious Sickness Rate of the District excluding
the 105 cases of Chicken-pox was G-9 per 1000 of the population, as
against 7-l in the preceding year, 0 in 1900, and 11.7 in 1899.
The rate for the separate localities was as follows:—Southgate
6.6, New Southgate 9.4, Winchmore Hill 4.3, and Palmers Green
and Bowes, 6.8.