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(c) "That the stock to be tested shall be kept under satisfactory sanitary
"conditions, and more especially that sufficient air space, ventilation, and
" light, be provided in the buildings occupied by the animals."
It is also recommended that the necessary instructions and directions respecting
the use of tuberculin and the isolation of re-acting animals, be circulated among
agricultural societies.
The question of the erection of sanatoria for the open air treatment of persons
suffering from the various forms of tuberculosis, so far as the metropolis is concerned,
appears to be one which should be dealt with by a central authority.
INFECTIOUS DISEASE AND SCHOOLS.
In accordance with the regulations of the London School Board, information as
to the exclusion from school of children who were suffering from infectious complaints
themselves, or were members of households in which infectious disease existed, was
received from the Haggerston Eoad, Scrutton Street, Chatham Avenue, Shepperton
Eoad, Gopsall Street, Catherine Street, Trinity Place and Canal Eoad Schools. In
155 instances the disease mentioned was measles, in 14 scarlet fever, in 9 mumps, in
8 diphtheria, in 7 chicken-pox, in 8 various skin affections, in 2 whooping cough, in
12 blight, and in 8 other infectious complaints.
Children in school are frequently under conditions which are especially favourable
for the dissemination of infectious disease, and it cannot be too strongly impressed
upon school teachers the importance of the responsibility which rests upon them to
strictly carry out the school regulations as to the exclusion of scholars who are likely
to be a source of infection. There is one complaint amongst children which ought
always to be regarded with suspicion, namely, "sore throat;" no child suffering from
"sore throat" ought to be allowed to mix with other children, or attend school until
it has been ascertained that the "sore throat" is not infectious. Diphtheria amongst
older children and adults is not infrequently a mild disorder, and may be regarded
merely as "sore throat.'' It is hardly necessary to point out how likely such
unrecognised cases are to spread infection.
Just before the Easter holidays, my attention was attracted by the number of
children excluded from the infant's department of the Haggerston Eoad Board School
through infectious illness, principally measles. As the result of inquiry there were no
indications for further steps to be taken beyond the exclusion from the school of
scholars from infected households. Instructions were given to the caretaker for the
disinfection of the rooms of the infants' department.
DISINFECTION.
During the year 1898, 750 premises were visited and disinfected by the Vestry's
officers. The number of articles brought to the Vestry's disinfecting station and