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A fortnight after the last removal, before the vessel sailed, the whole crew was
mustered, and after being stripped and bathed each man was provided with a
new suit of clothes, the old ones being afterwards thoroughly disinfected.
The Company moreover wisely decided to notify the fact of the disease
having occurred to each intending passenger, a prudent foresight which
would certainly be amply repaid by the confidence it would naturally inspire.
As the first patient had been decided by the medical officer of the ship to
be convalescent on arrival the master could not be held responsible for the
omission to report under your Worshipful Committee's regulations, but was
obviously in fault in not notifying to Her Majesty's Customs that there had
been illness on board, and was unwise in not stating the fact to your
Inspector, when the first case would have been at once isolated and, possibly,
the subsequent attacks avoided.
On my representation it was at once decided to apply to the Local
Government Board to approve of the addition of chicken-pox to the list of
diseases mentioned in the regulations. A deputation, consisting of the
Chairman, the Town Clerk, and your Medical Officer, waited upon the
Secretary and Medical Officer of the Board by appointment and explained
their views.
By request your Medical Officer embodied these in the following
memorandum:—
MEMORANDUM.
It appears to me to be highly desirable from various points of view that
chicken-pox should be included in the list of those dangerous infectious disorders
for which special regulations may be made by the Port Sanitary
Authority and confirmed by the Local Government Board, under section 125
of the Public Health Act of 1875, mainly because there is always a close and
dangerous similarity between chicken-pox at a certain stage and cases of
modified small-pox, a similarity which it is within the knowledge of the
Board has on more than one occasion led to disastrous results, and, as the
Board are aware, is so close that for some statistical purposes the RegistrarGeneral
has found it necessary to include chicken-pox with small-pox.
Another point is that, inasmuch as Lascars and other natives who are
especially subject to infantile diseases of a severe type form a considerable
percentage of the crews of the large ocean-going passenger steamers, this
notification becomes of great moment when the importance and character of
our ocean passenger traffic is taken into consideration. It has happened that
chicken-pox has spread on board these vessels and given rise to much
trouble. A memorandum of cases of chicken-pox occurring within the
Port of London has already been submitted to the Local Government
Board, and a copy is hereto appended. From this it will be seen that
the number of cases occurring is extremely small and not likely to interfere to