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and were removed to hospital, the necessary precautions being taken to prevent the
spread of infection. There were no cases secondary to these. On December 18th,
1901, a woman aged 39 was admitted to the receiving ward with symptoms of an
indefinite character, and died there on December 20th. A post-mortem examination
showed that hsemorrhagic small-pox was the cause of her death. Precautions were at
once taken, but four inmates of the institution took the disease and one of them died.
These patients were removed to hospital, two on January 2nd, 1902, a third on
January 3rd, and the fourth on January 4th. No further cases were traceable to this
source of infection.
On January 11th a man aged 47 was admitted to the institution. He is believed
to have come to London from somewhere in Norfolk, but nothing definite was
obtainable as to his history. He was very ill on admission, and was placed in an
isolation ward. His case was recognised to be one of hsemorrhagic small-pox on
January 15th, and he was forthwith removed to hospital, where he died. On January
25th a man came to the workhouse with the eruption of small-pox out on him. He
was at once removed to hospital, and there is no reason for believing that any of the
inmates were infected by him. Then followed a series of cases amongst the inmates of
the institution, in all probability resulting through infection from the man admitted on
January 11th. One of these was removed to hospital on January 26th, one on
January 28th, three on January 29th, six on January 30th, three on January 31st,
three on February 1st, three on February 2nd, and one on February 3rd. Two only of
this series of cases terminated fatally. The attacks were chiefly amongst old and
middle aged inmates. One of the patients was 71 years of age, two were 72, one 74,
one 76, and two 78. One of the latter two died. Death in this case was probably
largely the result of old age, as the attack itself was a very mild one. Several of the
patients were from 60 to 70 years of age. These old people had remarkably slight
attacks, and in several of the cases the eruption was observed and recognised as that
of small-pox and the patients were removed to hospital within 24 hours of the onset of
symptoms. There were two other cases at the workhouse which were not connected
with the above series. One was that of a woman who came to the institution on
February 5th with the eruption out, and was at once removed to hospital. The other
was that of a man who was admitted to the workhouse on February 8th; he developed
small-pox, and was removed to hospital on February 28th. This patient may have
contracted the disease through infection within the workhouse; but as he was allowed
out from time to time, there is the probability of his having been infected outside, for
there was just then a good deal of infection in the neighbourhood of the workhouse.
The total number of cases in the Holborn Workhouse was 32, three of which occurred
during the last two months of 1901. The whole of the patients have been taken
as belonging to the districts forming the Holborn Union. Those who came to the
workhouse with the disease upon them were certified as suffering from small-pox to
the medical officers of health for the districts from which they had come. Those who
had been inmates of the workhouse sufficiently long for them to have been infected
therein are included in the list of cases belonging to Shoreditch. The deaths of