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82
Home Isolation.—Two cases were isolated at home. Frequent visits are made
by the district sanitary inspectors to all cases isolated at home in order to ensure that
proper precautions are being taken for preventing the spread of the disease.
Employees of the Royal Arsenal are not allowed to remain at work unless cases are
removed to hospital or a certificate of efficient home isolation is issued by the
Medical Officer of Health. No certificates were issued during the year.
Antitoxin.—A supply of Diphtheria Antitoxin is kept at the Town Hall, the
Plumstead Library and the Eltham Library, and is available for medical practitioners
on application, at cost price, or free where there is inability to pay. The amount
supplied during the year was 84,000 units. The total cost to the Council was
£5 8s. 0d., all of which, with the exception of 12s. 0d., was recovered.
Antitoxin, under pressure, can now be obtained in serules. As part of the cover
of the serule consists of a sterilised hypodermic needle in a glass tube, to use it it is
only necessary to break the glass covering the needle, insert the needle into a vein
and release the serum. The only other thing the medical practitioner in attendance
has to do is to sterilise the skin. The advantages of serum stored by such a method
are obvious: the general practitioner can carry one of these serules in his bag and
he can administer it to a patient immediately, as contrasted with the old method
when he probably had to get the serum from the Council and then go home to get
his serum syringe and steriliser. More general use of this method would probably
increase the number of cases treated with antitoxin before admission to hospital—
a most important factor in treatment, as it is well known that the case mortality
from Diphtheria increases with every day's delay in the commencement of specific
treatment.
Schick Test.—There are no clinics in the area where Schick testing and immunisation
are carried out:
Scarlet Fever.
Notification.—During the year 1,004 cases were notified, compared with 554
in 1932 and 387 in 1931. There were 25 military cases. The number of notifications
received each quarter was as follows:—
First quarter 202 Second quarter 220
Third quarter 213 Fourth quarter 369
Multiple Cases.—The following Table, No. 43, shows the house distribution
by wards. The term "house" is synonymous with the term "family” except in
two instances, where two families were involved.