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105
The epidemic started in July and reached the maximum
in the second week of August and gradually declined during
September and October. It appeared first mainly in two
parts of the Borough, namely, High Street area, Woolwich,
and the Reidhaven Road area, Plumstead, and reached,
its maximum in the third week of July. Its course
in Plumstead was as follows: in children under 5 years of
age it reached its maximum in St. Nicholas Ward in the third
week of July; in the Central Ward in the second week of
August; Glyndon Ward also in the second week of August,
while in St. Margaret's Ward sporadic cases only occurred
more or less evenly throughout the whole period. As St.
Nicholas Ward is the most easterly Ward in the Borough,
Central being next and Glyndon furthest West, it looks as
if this disease travelled from East to West. In the High
Street area in Woolwich, which is included in the River and
Burrage Wards, it reached its maximum in the first week
of August; in the Dockyard and St. Mary's Wards in the
second week, and in St. George's in the third week. It can
be assumed that the temperature was more or less uniform
for these separate areas all the time except possibly in the
in the high area of St. Margaret's and St. George's, so that
it looks as if the high temperature was not the main factor
in the spread of the disease, but there must have been some
other factor at work as well.
The following Table shows the house distribution of
notified epidemic diarrhœa cases.