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91
In my fortnightly report addressed to you on the 8th August,
when Small Pox was so prevalent in the Metropolis, I pointed out
the precautions that were adopted in the Parish against the spread
of this disease, which also applied to any other infectious complaint,
as follows:—
"On receiving intimation of a case of Small-pox the house
is at once visited, and immediate measures are taken for the
removal of the patient to hospital by telephoning to the
Asylums Board for the service of the ambulance, at the same
time a telegram is sent to your Disinfector to come and disinfect
the rooms occupied by the patient, and also to remove the
bedding for disinfection. Any children living in the house,
and who attend school, the parents are warned against sending
them, and a certificate is forwarded to the head teacher of the
school, informing him or her of the presence of the disease in
the said premises, and if there are any person or persons living
in the house employed at a tailor's, dressmaker's, laundry,
dairy, &c., I write to their employers, drawing their attention to
the fact of the existence of infectious disease therein. I recommend
vaccination to the inmates of an infected house, but my
advice is rarely taken, owing, I presume, to the objection which
has sprung up within the last few years in respect of vaccination.
Disinfectants are given to those who are unable to purchase
them. Also a copy of the Medical Practitioner's certificate
notifying the case is forwarded to the Clerk of the Metropolitan
Asylums Board within twelve hours of its receipt. I can confidently
assert that there is no sanitary district in London
which acts with greater promptitude in cases of infectious
disease than ours; people living in the house wherein a case
has occurred have frequently remarked on our expeditious procedure.
I may inform you that in no house wherein a case of
Small-pox has occurred has there ever been a recurrence of the
disease; this clearly shows the means we adopt are satisfactory
and efficient."