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8
Fever and Small Pox.
According to the weekly returns of the Registrar-General it appears
that the deaths from fever are on the increase in London, and that the
deaths from small-pox have increased from the week ended November 2nd,
when they were only 3, to the week ended December 28th, when they were
13; and since that date to the time of the printing of this Report they
have still farther increased. As regards the prevention of the latter
disease, the isolation of the patients and the perfect vaccination of all
infants and re-vaccination of all persons at the age of puberty will, if not
entirely prevent its occurrence, greatly diminish its extent and severity ; and
as to the prevention of fever (typhus, typhoid and continued fever), cleanliness
in house and person, good drainage, pure water, pure air and good
ventilation, and the prevention of overcrowding, are the chief remedies to
be relied on. Filth, in all its forms, and particularly in the excremental
pollution of the atmosphere and of the water used for domestic and drinking
purposes, are now well known to be the main causes of fever. It is
therefore to the prevention of accumulations of all kinds of filth that the
energies of the Sanitary Officers must be directed, if we earnestly desire to
prevent the invasion and progress of this disease. The streets and footpaths
should be cleansed daily, the sewers should be frequently flushed, so as to
prevent the accumulation of offensive matter therein, and the dust-bins,
both private and public, should be daily emptied.
I am induced to bring this matter under the notice of your Board at
this time in consequence of the increase in the number of deaths from
fever in the Metropolis. It appears that during the last six months there
have been recorded 713 deaths from fever, viz.: 299 for the Quarter ended
on the 28th September, and 414 for the Quarter ended on the 28th December
last, showing an increase of 115 in the number of deaths in the present
quarter over that of the preceding one.
The increase in the number of deaths from fever at the present time,
when so many deaths from fever are being recorded in the east of Europe,
calls for additional attention on the part of the public authorities to the
sanitary condition of their respective districts; for, although the improved
sanitary condition of London may prevent so fatal a disease from becoming
epidemic, yet it is necessary at the present time to use increased vigilance,
especially as regards the localities of the poorer districts.
At the present time, when the subject of small-pox hospitals is being
agitated, it may perhaps be interesting to the several Local Boards to be
acquainted with the opinions of several eminent medical men on the
subject of contagion. These opinions are set forth in the Report of the
General Board of Health on Quarantine in 1849. At page 52 in the
Report just mentioned, it is stated that—