View report page

18
Your Medical Officer visited the vessel, which was lying in the river off Butler's
Wharf, with the intention of vaccinating the remainder of the crew, but found that,
as the vessel could not berth until 3 p.m., all except the captain and six of the crew
had rowed ashore and gone home. He vaccinated five of these men and one who had
been on board from a vessel alongside. The captain refused vaccination and one
sailor, who had marks of an obviously recent and successful vaccination, was excused.
The names and addresses of the whole crew (18, including the patient) were
obtained and were telephoned next morning to the Medical Officers of Health of the
districts concerned, the messages being afterwards confirmed in writing.
All the bedding and clothing from the firemen's and sailors' quarters Avere removed
by launch to Denton Hospital, and there disinfected by steam, meanwhile the quarters
were disinfected by spraying with Izal and subsequently fumigated with SO2.
The circumstances of the occurrence are as follows:—The ss. "Petrel" trades
regularly between London and Hamburg. Her previous movements were: Left
Hamburg 25th April; arrived London 27th April: left London 1st May; arrived
Hamburg 3rd May; left Hamburg 5th May; arrived London 7th May; left London
9th May; arrived Hamburg 11th May; left Hamburg 14th May, arrived London
16th May.
The patient reported sick in Hamburg on 11th May, and was seen by a shore
doctor, who said he had a chill. Subsequently he returned to work and did not report
sick again on board. Other members of the crew stated that he developed a rash
on 14th May, but the captain was not aware of this and consequently reported " all
well " when his vessel was hailed at Gravesend.
The man went home to 80, Salmon Lane, E. 14, when the vessel was moored
off Butler's Wharf. As several cases of Small-pox had occurred in the same house,
he went to the Public Health Department of Stepney to report that he had a rash.
It appears'that the first case of small-pox was removed from 80, Salmon Lane,
on 1st May, so there is no doubt that this man was infected at home while his ship
was in London, between 27th April and 1st May.
Arrangements were made for the vessel to be boarded at Gravesend each time
she arrived, up to and including 31st May, but no contacts who continued to sail
in the vessel developed Small-pox.
The ss. "Clan Buchanan" arrived at Gravesend on the 3rd June, having landed
a native sailor at Cochin on the 18th April suffering from a mild and doubtful attack
of Small-pox. The crew had been vaccinated before joining the ship at Bombay on
the 9th April. Disinfection was carried out under the supervision of the Port Medical
Officer for Cochin. No other case occurred during the voyage.
Scarlet Fever.
A small epidemic of Scarlet Fever occurred on board the Training Ship
"Arethusa," lying in the Thames off Greenhithe. There were 16 cases, all being
boys under training. The first six cases were sent to the Dartford Urban and Rural
Districts (Joint) Infectious Disease Hospital, at Bow Arrow Lane, Dartford, the
10 subsequent cases being removed to the Port Sanitary Authority's Hospital at
Denton. The disease was uniformly mild in type. It was not found possible to
trace the original source of infection, which was probably a "missed" case. A
consideration of the dates of onset showed that the disease spread on board by "caseto-case
infection."
Leprosy.
A Chinese cook, suffering from leprosy, arrived at Shell Haven on the ss. "Megara,"
from Curacao, on 26th May. The patient originally came from Singapore. Arrangements
were made with the Seamen's Hospital Society to accommodate the patient