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7
B.—Infectious Diseases.
(See Tables IV. and V.)
1. A total of 762 notifications were received during the
year, compared with 790, 886, and 713 in the three preceding
years. 412 of these went to Hospital, or rather more than
half. A larger proportion still would have gone to Hospital if
there had been sufficient accommodation. But twice during
the year the accommodation of the Asylums Board Managers
failed—first during the Typhoid epidemic, and again in the
autumn when Scarlet Fever and Diphtheria became unusually
prevalent.
2. The Sanitary Committee directed, in the middle of the
year, that the Arsenal authorities should be informed of the
occurrence of infectious diseases in the house of any Arsenal
employe. This practice renders it unnecessary for Arsenal
employes to report personally at the Arsenal, and so diminishes
the chances of infection being carried. The clerical work of the
Sanitary Department has thus been considerably augmented.
Small Pox.
3. There were 16 cases of Small Pox notified, compared
with 51 and 22 in the two preceding years. All but one were
removed to Hospital, and two died. All the cases were in
adults. They mostly occurred in the autumn at a time whep
there was a serious outbreak of Small Pox in certain parts of
London. Seven of the cases occurred in the Workhouse and
Infirmary. Most of the remaining cases were probably
contracted from people living outside Plumstead. Owing to
the neglect of vaccination, Small Pox has been endemic in
West Ham for some years, and Plumstead suffers from the
close connection with West Ham now prevailing by the Free
Ferry.