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10
sore throat that I discovered by visiting all absentee scholars
from St. John's Schools. This inspection was carried out so
long as cases of Diphtheria continued to be notified in the
scholars attending that School. It will be noticed that a
large number of these cases occurred in the neighbourhood of
either the Hogg's Mill Stream, or in the course of the old
Latchmere Brook.
Should this suggestion of mine be carried out, the
inspection of absentee school children whenever Infectious
Sore Throat is notified in a school, would, in my opinion,
prevent these epidemics developing into Diphtheria, when
combined with other sanitary measures. The disease appearing
first in one school and then in another, it would be
comparatively easy, by the help of a conveyance, to carry out
this inspection systematically. Unfortunately by waiting till
sore throat has developed into Diphtheria the cases occur very
frequently in two or three schools at the same time. Another
difficulty arises when some of the scholars live in the district
of a different Sanitary Authority, but this in our case will be
avoided when that imaginary line that confines Kingston
within its narrow bounds is stretched out to the natural limits
to which the town has spread.
Having received several notifications of Diphtheria,
I visited all the absentee scholars from one elementary
school and, also, several small private schools, but as the
disease is frequent amongst infants the labour is considerable,
as infants are very irregular in their attendance and much
walking is necessary to find the few cases of Sore Throat
that may be discovered.
It will be seen that several of the groups were first noticed
in houses where there was something wrong with the Sanitation.
I do not say the cases arose from defective drainage,
but there was such a cause present, and I was unable to
ascertain any other source of infection.
Enteric Fever, or Typhoid.
7 cases were notified, including 1 case contracted at
Woking, and 1 following on Influenza. The cause was not
discoverable in any of the cases, with the exception of one
case of a school girl who was attending a private school where
some defects were found. These defects have been remedied.
The other cases may probably have been contracted away
from home. There were 2 deaths, viz.: the case following