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12
SMALL POX.
Between the dates of March 7th and March 21st, two
tramps wandered from Uxbridge, through Beaconsfield and
Chelsea, to Kingston, arriving at the Common Lodging
House in Vicarage Road about the 19th or 20th. On
March 21st, the tramp A applied for medical attention at
the Workhouse and was found to be suffering from Small
Pox. He was immediately sent to hospital, and all contacts
were isolated and kept under observation for fifteen
days, re-vaccination being offered in every case. No further
case occurred at the Workhouse. The Common Lodging
House was visited and the inmates examined, three being
re-vaccinated, none of whom contracted Small Pox. It
was found that one lodger had left for Chertsey and London
(G) and several had gone to unknown destinations—one of
these (H) was later on found in Elm Grove suffering from
Small Pox and was sent to hospital.
On Sunday, April 5th, at 10.30 a.m., the proprietor of
the Common Lodging House came up to my house to say
he thought there was another case. On arriving at the
Common Lodging House I found four cases and sent them
to hospital at once. Three cases were mild and one semioonfluent.
On the 8th, another case (I) went to the Workhouse
and thence to hospital, and the same day the lodger
(H) was found to be ill in Elm Grove. He was sent to
hospital forthwith. H had shared a bed in Elm Grove with
an omnibus driver (K), who was at once relieved from duty
and kept under observation until April 18th, when a few
spots having appeared he was promptly sent to hospital.
This man had been re-vaccinated when H was found to be
ill, but as he was then at the third day of the incubatory
period the vaccination could only have a modifying ettect
on the Small Pox. The case was a mild one.
On April 8th I visited the Common Lodging House in
the evening and found one mild case. I then made arrangements
for inspecting all the inmates and by the offer of
certain inducements, 44 submitted to re-vaccination.