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62
On April 20th a medical practitioner requested me to visit
with him a patient, whom he had seen for the first time that
morning, and who had a rash which he considered suspicious.
On arrival at the house I examined all the occupants. I
found John Day suffering from Hæmorrhagic or Black SmallPox
; Susan Day in the preliminary stages of severe Small-Pox;
John Alfred Day and Henrietta Day (who were about the house)
in the early stages of modified Small-Pox. While we were
examining these persons, another member of the family, a boy
named Ernest Alfred Day, who had been treated since the
beginning of the month for Chicken-Pox, and who had been
playing in the streets, returned indoors, and on examining him
we found that he showed distinct evidence of Small-Pox in its
later stages.
Each of these persons was stated to have been vaccinated
in infancy, but there was no evidence of re-vaccination.
Immediate steps were taken to remove all the patients to
hospital. Two children in the house who were not affected were
removed to the Council's Shelter in Hither Green Lane. The
contents of the house were removed to the Disinfecting Station,
the whole of the walls and passages were stripped, and the
premises disinfected. Your Medical Officer, with Inspectors
Cooper and Knappett, immediately commenced a house-to-house
enquiry at the 91 houses in Mill Road. This was continued
daily for 16 days, and any cases of sickness or indisposition
were reported to me. I then visited the house, and if no doctor
was in attendance, examined the person, and fortunately was
able to remove any suspicion.
Direct and indirect contacts in Mill Road and other
places were traced, and kept under observation. As a result, on
Sunday April 23rd I was informed of the illness of Mrs.