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15
On June 19th I made a further report to the Vestry, which.
was as follows:—
With reference to my special report dated 11th inst., on
the incidence of Smallpox, which appears on to-day's
agenda, I deem it desirable to submit the following
additional facts which have come to my knowledge:—
On May 11th last a housekeeper (who lived above the
flat where the valet died) was removed to St. Mary's
Hospital. She had been under the care of a doctor for
some weeks and had kept her bed for a whole month, but
no symptoms of any infectious disease were observed.
On May 28th, seventeen days after her admission to the
hospital, an eruption appeared and she was removed to an
isolation ward, where she died on 4th June.
From 15th to the 18th June, five cases of Smallpox
occurred amongst persons in attendance on the housekeeper
when she was in the isolation ward.
The coincidence of the housekeeper's residence in
Westminster must be read in conjunction with the facts—
(а) That 19 days elapsed since the death of the valet
referred to in the previous report, seventeen days
of which period had been spent in a hospital
ward.
(b) That for the ten days prior the housekeeper had'
kept her bed in Westminster.
(c) That on June 6th three cases of Smallpox were
removed from the Infirmary of St. George's-in-the
East, the primary case having been admitted to
the Infirmary on May 17th as a case of Measles,,
from a house in that parish, where a child had
"sores on his body."
It is therefore necessary to note that unfortunately
cases of Smallpox are now occurring in London, the
origin of which apparently remains untraced.
Scarlet Fever.—One hundred and twenty-three cases were
notified compared with 201 in 1899, and only one death
occurred compared with five the previous year. Of the 123
cases notified 118 were removed to an isolation hospital. It
will therefore be seen that we have been particularly free from
Scarlet Fever compared with previous years. I consider that
the large number of cases removed to hospital very creditable,
to the officers of the Sanitary Authority.