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82
out these important operations at the earliest possible
moment." I cannot myself see that the Managers could do
the work of disinfection more expeditiously or better than
the Sanitary Authority, which in London should be the
Vaccination Authority also, as I recommended in a communication
addressed to the Managers in 1877.
Fever Patients. —At the commencement of 1891 there
were 1,936 patients in the Managers' hospitals (1.93 of them
in the Western Hospital, including l,04 suffering from
scarlet fever, 148 from diphtheria, and 162 from enteric fever.
The number fell gradually, to 1,283, to the end of March—a
fall of 643 : and from the end of March to the 14th June to
1,050 (the lowest for. the year), a fall of only 232. ''From
that date the numbers rose slowly to 1,438 at the end of
September, and mounting rapidly during October, and less
rapidlv during November, attained the maximum for the year,
(2,055) on the 8th December. This number was conveniently
accommodated in the six Hospitals then open." The most
serious feature of the year was a sudden outbreak of enteric
fever in the south-eastern districts, from a small area in
which, in nine weeks, 228 patients were removed to the
Managers' hospitals. The spread of the disease was checked
and it rapidly subsided.
Diphtheria Patients.— The total number of patients
removed certified to be suffering from diphtheria, or
diphtheritic membranous croup, was 1,481: of this number
432 per cent, were removed during the first half and 56.8 per
cent, during the second half of the year.
Removals to Other Hospitals.— During the year 126
persons suffering from dangerous infectious disorders were
conveyed in the Managers' ambulances to other places than
the Managers' hospitals. The charge for the use of an
ambulance, any distance, is five shillings, and for the services
of a nurse half- a- crown additional,