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division took place during the year, and it would make matters very complicated
to treat them as a whole during a portion of the year and separate
during the remainder of it; but I will endeavour to separate them as much
as possible. You will observe that 56 cases of Scarlatina; 19 of Diphtheria;
and 4 of Typhoid Fever, were notified from these parishes. Of the
Scarlatina cases, 32 occurred in Cowley; 13 in Yiewsley; and 11 in
Hiilingdon. Of the Diphtheria cases, 9 occurred in Cowley; 9 in Hillingdon;
and 1 in Yiewsley. The 4 Typhoid cases occurred in Hillingdon. In the
comparatively small parish of Cowley there has, during the past year, been
a great preponderance of these diseases. In my last Annual Report I called
your attention to Cowley Cottages (8 in number) where 34 children were
located; an outbreak of Scarlatina had then commenced. I received 4
notifications of this disease at the end of 1895, and 10 in January and
February of last year. Most of the cases were sent to the Isolation
Hospital; all premises were disinfected; and the schools were closed from
December 9th, 1895, to February 17th, 1890, when the spread of disease was
arrested. In July, another outbreak occurred which was caused by a boy
mixing with others while there was desquamation of the skin (the parents
being ignorant of the child's condition). The schools were again closed and
most of the children sent to the Isolation Hospital, all cottages disinfected,
and the outbreak ceased. At the end of September and beginning of
October, 8 cases of Diphtheria occurred in this Village, 6 of which belonged to
one family. I discovered the cause in this case to be undoubtedly due to
there being no trap between the sink and the sewer, which was simply being
ventilated into the cottage through the sink pipe. This condition of things
was very soon remedied by the pipe being carried through the wall and
made to deliver over a proper trap; and other cottages adjoining were treated
in the same way.
Yiewsley has, I am pleased to report, a more healthy record than usual,
as only 13 cases of Scarlatina and 1 of Diphtheria were notified, and there was
no case of Typhoid Fever recorded; this is exceptional, as I have for some
years past commented strongly on the existence of this disease in this
locality. Its absence during the past year I take to be due to several polluted
wells having been closed, and to the Company's water having been laid on to
the cottages in Horton Road, and also to the removal of closets and cesspits
at the rear of Harland's Cottages, which, in my opinion, polluted an otherwise
pure spring of water. In May, an outbreak of Measles occurred at
Starveall, and the Infant School was closed for a period of three weeks.