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attendance; a doctor called in, too late, however, suspected
diphtheria, informed me, and a swab was taken and a bacteriological
examination showed the presence of diphtheria bacilli.
Meanwhile, a coroner's jury had given a verdict of death from
bronchitis. Four members of the family were found to be
carriers of the diphtheria bacillus.
56. School Infection. The highest incidence was in Wood
Street and Gordon Schools. Certain classes were specially affected.
A large number of cases occurred about the same time, and there
is no doubt that the school was a means of spreading the infectionAs
soon as there was any evidence of school infection, the Medical
Officer (Education) of the London County Council was informed,
affected classes examined bactefiologically, and those found to be
" carriers " of the diphtheria bacilli were excluded. At Gordon
School, cases continued to occur in spite of these steps (whereby
six " carriers" were discovered), and after a further examination
of the children, the school was temporarily closed, the whole
school for two weeks and the Infant Department for four weeks.
This had the desired effect. At Wood Street School, examination
and exclusion of infected children were found sufficient to stop
recurrence of cases.
57. Be incidence of Scarlet Fever, and Diphtheria, on the large
schools during the years 1896-1905, see paragraphs 47 and 48.
58. Bacteriological Diagnosis.— 898 Swabs were sent to the
Lister Institute and the Royal Institute of Public Health, to be
examined for the presence of diphtheria bacillus. In 260 the true
Klebs Loffler bacillus was found (in 7 of these, Hoffman's Bacillus
coexisted with the Klebs Loffler bacillus); in 149 Hoffman's
Bacillus was found; and 489 were found free from either the
Klebs Loffler bacillus or Hoffman's.
Of the 898 swabs examined, 240 were taken from school
children by myself. Of these, 50 contained the true Klebs
Loffler bacillus and 33 Hoffman's bacillus.
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