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EXTRACTS FROM PREVIOUS ANNUAL REPORTS
Diphtheria,
"1897. At Old Maiden the three cases occurred in one family and was contracted
by one of the children inhaling sewer gas when walking over the new main in
Cheam Road. The parents not recognising the gravity of the disease did not
call in medical assistance till all the children were affected.
At New Maiden, one case arrived from London as a visitor with sore
throat and was received into a London Isolation Hospital, One might have
contracted the disease when carting manure from Kingston, in the other case,
defective drainage was found, which has been remedied.
1900,. Four cases were notified - 2 in Old Maiden, 2 in New Maiden. All
were removed to the Isolation Hospital,, One case of a virulent type, not
treated with antitoxin, died soon after admission. The other case in the
same house was immediately treated with antitoxin, removed to hospital and
did well. Both cases were due to the house drains which have been entirely
relaid.
1906. Two cases occurred, one in Old Maiden, which was closely connected, if
not caused, by a similar disease in fowls. Many were penned in a dirty yard
at the rear of the house. One fowl, found dead, was examined by your Bacteriologist
and the specific Bacillus isolated. Cultures and microscopic slides
from these cases were later submitted to other scientists in the Kingdom and
the finding of your Officer confirmed. Subsequently the Medical Officer of
Health for Kent, where fowl breeding is an important industry, reported a
similar case.
1910. Under the paragraph "Diphtheria' in my first report to this Council, 1897,
the Council were recommended to supply antitoxin to the medical men of this
district, and also free bacteriological examination to assist diagnosis.
The Council at once adopted my suggestion, they were, I believe, the
first district in the County to adopt a scheme that after years, has been
issued as an Order of the Local Government Board. The mortality on the first
day of the disease was then 22.5. By antitoxin treatment it has been reduced
to nil, that is to say, that cases injected on the first day with a sufficient
amount of antitoxin all recover."
Typhoid Fever.
"1897. Five cases were reported,, but not one due to air water supply. Two
occurred in Cocmbe; one was removed from the seaside into the district before
the disease was discovered; in the other no cause could be found. Three