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32
The following cases occurring during the year are of interest:—
On the 20th March, a report was received from the Seamen's Hospital that
two cases of Small-pox had been admitted from the s.s. " Ituna," of London,
from Newcastle-on-Tyne. The cases were removed to the Port Sanitary
Hospital, together with the bedding and effects on the vessel, and the vessel
disinfected. Yaccination was offered to the crew, but accepted by only two
persons.
This vessel was trading between the Tyne and London.
On March 6th, during a fog, she anchored for the night in close proximity
to the Small-pox Floating Hospital in Long Reach. The rash in each case
began to appear on the 20th, and this will agree with the fact that a period
of fourteen days usually elapses between the time of exposure to the infection
and the appearance of the rash.
The s.s. "Opal" arrived at Gravesend, March 20th, from Valencia. The
Master reported one man ailing with diarrhoea, due to the eating of oranges.
The case was investigated by your Medical Officer, and was found to be an
obvious case of Small-pox. The Master rightly absolved himself of
responsibility by reporting the case of illness, although his diagnosis was
erroneous. The vessel was disinfected, and vaccination offered to the crew.
On the 24th March, the s.s. " New Pelton " was lying off Erith. At this
time some seamen were noticed in the town of Erith whose appearance
created suspicions, and they were traced to this vessel, and found by the
Medical Officer of Health for Erith to be suffering from Small-pox. No
communication was made to your Medical Officer, but the men were at once
removed by the local authorities at Erith to hospital. In so doing, they were
acting ultra vires, inasmuch as the cases were not within the Erith Urban
District, and could easily have been removed to the Hospital of this
Authority. The Urban District Council would thereby have avoided the
expenses of maintenance of the patients in the Hospital of the Metropolitan
Asylums Board, which they subsequently had to pay.
On the 13th April, the attention of Dr. Willoughby, the Medical Officer on
duty, was called to a body found in the River in the vicinity of the hulk
" Hygeia," and he found ample evidence that the body was that of a man
who had been suffering from Small-pox. The body was subsequently
identified as that of a patient who had escaped from the Ward of one of the
Small-pox ships of the Metropolitan Asylums Board, on the 20th March, and
had jumped into the River.
The s.s. " Arno " arrived from Libau on 17th July, and was boarded at
Gravesend by the Medical Officer on duty.