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school. On October 4th I communicated with the Medical
Officer of the School Board, with the result that this department
(Infant's) was thoroughly fumigated and the floors and
desks washed with a solution of Carbolic Acid. It was then
noticed that cases which had been cropping up at intervals of
a few days only then ceased, with one exception, namely, that
of a child who had attended the school for the last time before
the fumigation took place, viz., October 3rd. For the next
three months only three cases of Scarlet Fever occurred in
children attending this school.
I think in this case it is clearly evident that the disinfection
at least did good, and in the former case it is interesting to
note how the separation of the children for the holidays caused
the disease to decrease.
An interesting case occurred in the district where a child
who had been six weeks in a Metropolitan Asylums Board
Hospital, suffering from Diphtheria, developed Scarlet Fever
the following day, after being discharged from the hospital.
Diphtheria.—Fifteen deaths wore registered from this disease,
compared with 22 last year; three deaths occurred in St.
Margaret's Parish and 12 in St. John's. 104 cases were
notified, compared with 72 last year; of these, 29 were notified
in St. Margaret's Parish and 75 in St. John's. On the occasion
of a small outbreak of Diphtheria in November at Knightsbridge,
out of ten cases, the first eight were either children
actually attending Montpelier-street School in Kensington
Parish, or in houses where children resided who went to that
school.
Dr. Dudfield very kindly informed me that steps had been
taken by him to remedy any insanitary conditions observed
at these schools.
In all the cases notified special care has been taken to get a
complete history of the case as to school attendance, &c., on
the forms which were printed last year, and in each case all
insanitary defects at the houses where the disease has
occurred have been remedied.
With regard to the use of the Antitoxin treatment in Diphtheria,
the opinion of medical men seems to be still divided.
One gentleman living in this district has very kindly supplied
me with the history of a case of Diphtheria occurring in his
family, where he states that the Antitoxin treatment undoubtedly
cut short the progress of the disease.