London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Lambeth 1892

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Lambeth]

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10
neither can it spring up of itself. Should a number of persons
arrive in London from a, Cholera infected place, and sicken at
home with the disease they have acquired abroad, even then no
danger need be apprehended of a general epidemic. Poisoning
of the water and food supplies on a large scale can alone have the
effect of influencing any extensive outbreak.
The following rules should be rigidly observed:
1. Water used for drinking purposes, and Milk should
be boiled.
2. The Cistern should be often cleansed and furnished with
a well fitting cover. Drinking water should be drawn
from a tap attached direct to the main.
3. Meat, Vegetables and Fruit should be well cooked.
4. The Larder should be well ventilated, and free from any
effluvia.
5. The contents of the Dust-bin should be disinfected
periodically, and no large accumulation permitted.
6. The Drain should be flushed daily with a plentiful supply
of water.
7. Rainwater, Sink, and Waste Pipes must be disconnected
from the Drain, and be made to discharge their
contents over properly trapped inlets.
8. Any smell occurring without assignable cause, whether
observed continuously or with intermissions, or the
presence of rats in the house should lead to the
suspicion of the existence of a faulty drain.
Unless Cholera obtain a foothold in other districts of the Metropolis
more open to attack, the appearance of even isolated
cases in Lambeth is a contingency which may be regarded as
remote. Between Lambeth and the Cholera infected areas of the
Continent there is no direct communication. Lambeth is not the
resting place of foreign immigrants, neither is it a field from
which dock labour is drawn. The Port of London is more distant