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15
(c) Their nursing and medical attendance during the course
of the disease.
Isolation op Infected Persons.
(a) Isolation at Home.—Whatever provision may ultimately be
made in regard to the disposal of persons suffering from Cholera
in the event of an Epidemic of that disease breaking out in
Lambeth, it will be found necessary to make arrangements
applicable to persons remaining under treatment at home. The
formidable nature of the disease, its rapid development and the
severity of its symptoms, resulting often in a condition of collapse
within a few hours after its first appearance, render the removal of
the patient often a task of difficulty not unaccompanied by danger.
More especially is this the case when the operation is undertaken
in the later stages of the complaint. However complete your
arrangements may be in regard to Hospital accommodation, a
large percentage of the cases occurring will, as a result of this
peculiarity in the couse of the symptoms, pass through the various
stages of the disease in the place of its onset. It is therefore a
matter of the first importance that measures be taken to obtain, as
far as circumstances admit, a method of complete isolation in the
ordinary dwelling house, and to consider what provision may be
necessary for the nursing and medical attendance of persons so
situated. I would submit that you will find it expedient to cause
the immediate medical examination of the occupants of such a
dwelling, and the separation of the affected from the unaffected.
And, further, among those regarded as the unaffected will
generally be found some complaining of symptoms which, although
not of sufficient severity to justify a definite classification, yet
suggestive of a condition which might well be looked upon with
suspicion, rendering them unlit for cohabitation with the healthy.
These constitute a third class. the affected persons, especially if
the symptoms be severe, must remain in the house in which they
are attacked, with a person in charge. A trained nurse is the
most desirable Attendant. If the epidemic be limited in extent,
one may be secured from a Sisterhood, or institution of nurses.