View report page

42
July 4, there were 1,378, and on July 18 only 1172, cases
in hospital including nearly one thousand in the Camp.
The maximum number in the epidemic of 1881 was 1650,
viz., 1000 in land and ship hospitals, and 650 in Camp.
I am indebted to Mr. Sweeting, the Medical Superintendent
of the hospital, for an analysis of the admissions, showing
the position in relation to the hospital, of the houses newly
invaded by small-pox, after Mr. Power's plan, the special area
being divided into zones. From this it appears that between
May 17-July 12—so far as hospital patients are concerned—
the disease invaded 103 houses, of which 146 are in the special
area and 57 beyond the special area, or more than one mile
from the hospital. Of the 46 houses in the special area,
2 are in the ¼ mile central circle, 20 in the mile ring,
20 in the mile ring, and 4 in the outer or ¾1 mile ring.
By July 12, the hospital having been open 8 weeks, one case
only, (that of an unvaccinated girl), had been recorded in
Ifield Road, the street in Kensington nearest to the hospital.
The facts as to age-distribution of cases are much the
same as in previous epidemics, many children having
been attacked in the district north of Uxbridge road, and
few in the south district. In the south district, on the other
hand, female domestic servants, as usual, formed a large
proportion, (31.5 per cent.), of total cases. The well-to-do
classes have been little affected; artizans, &c., have suffered
more than common labourers or the poorest classes.
With few exceptions the cases have been removed to hospital,
several of the patients having walked in. There were
other cases of exposure, particulars of which are recorded
in my monthly reports. Occasionally the disease was spread
owing to modified cases of small-pox having been mistaken
for chicken-pox: a few cases were imported. Eight patients
were admitted from one house and at one time—the fruits
of a concealed case. This quantity of small-pox, it may be
added, did not lead to the spread of the disease in the poor
street whence it was removed, although seven of the cases