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21
Ormond Street Hospital with Diphtheria in a child under school
age. This child was the brother of a child attending this school,
and this scholar was excluded during the course of the outbreak.
One fatal case in a very young child was reported to me, and on
enquiry found to be in connection with this outbreak. A sister
was also attacked later on. It was found when the case was visited
that an elder child who had been at St. Luke's School was suffering
from a slight sore throat and the bacillus, was detected in a
swabbing.
As at the other school every child found with signs of recent
sore throat was excluded from school. In both schools the children
were given Formalin lozenges containing 1/8-grain dry Formalin
with Sacch. Lact. gr. 2 and Acid Citric Sacch. Alb. and Rose
flavouring. One lozenge was given on assembling in the morning;
one before leaving at mid-day; one on re-assembling in the afternoon
and one on leaving at 4 p.m. Another child from the
school died in the course of the outbreak, and also a child of two
whose sister had been attending but had large tonsils. Swabbings
were not taken in the latter case. In the other fatal case the
swabbings gave a negative result on two occasions. Other cases
of Diphtheria have been notified during the year but these were
isolated cases such as are frequently observed in this Town.
In addition there were 29 cases in the Workhouse, apparently
arising from two primary cases. The Medical Officers at the
Workhouse believe these children get infected originally by visitors
This Union consists of the sanitary districts of Kingston, Wimbledon,
Surbiton, Maiden, Ham, The Dittous and Molesey in Surrey,
and Teddington, Hampton and Hampton Wick in Middlesex.
The friends of the Workhouse children are mostly of a migratory
class and frequently move from one district to another, and they
are of the careless class who rarely call in medical aid until the
patient is dangerously ill. It seems to be almost impossible to
make any regulations that would keep infection of this kind out
of the Workhouse. A reduction in the size of the wards in which
the children are nursed seems to be almost the only preventive