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19
INFECTIOUS DISEASES.
Methods of Prevention.—The diseases to be notified by
the Medical Practitioners are Small-pox, Measles, Diphtheria,
Erysipelas, Scarlet, Typhus, Enteric, Puerperal and Continued
Fevers, and Cholera.
On receipt of a notification, the house is visited, and
enquiries made as to the possible source of infection. The
surroundings, and the number of persons living in the premises
are noted, and the drains examined. Care is taken that
the infected linen does not go to the laundries. The question
of action in outworkers' premises has not arisen, as no case
was notified.
Hospital accommodation is offered in Diphtheria, Typhoid
and Scarlet Fever, and the cases are removed as early is
possible.
In cases treated at home, it is seen that proper isolation is
available, and instructions are given as to the disinfection of
clothing and articles liable to be contampinated. Special
instructions are given as to the excreta in typhoid.
At the termination of tne illness, the walls of the infected
rooms are stripped, and disinfected, and all contaminated
articles are removed to the Croydon Rural Isolation Hospital,
at Beddington Corner, for disinfection by steam. Children
from infected households are prohibited from attendance at
school for the full incubation period.
Means are placed at the disposal of the practitioners for
the early diagnosis of Diphtheria and Typhoid Fever. A wire
is sent them as to the result of the bacteriological examination.
A stock of diphtheria antitoxin is kept for the use of
doctors.