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5
Measles.—The Disease appeared in South
Teddington at the end of February in an epidemic
form, and in the beginning of March the attendances
in the Schoolhouse Lane Schools had in a very
short time considerably diminished. It was thought
advisable to close them as well as the Fairfax Road
Schools. Preventive measures are not so successful
in arresting the spread of Measles as they are in the
case of Scarlatina. One reason of this being that
in the former disease the infection commences in
the very beginning, before any rash appears, and
therefore generally before the disease is recognised
and before any steps are taken to isolate the patient.
The information relating to the progress of the
disease I received from the death returns, from the
voluntary notices of Medical Practitioners and from
the Masters and Mistresses of the Public Elementary
Schools, who invariably adopted my advice to
exclude from school all children coming from an
infected house. It was difficult towards the end of
the Easter holidays, to ascertain whether the
epidemic was increasing. In order to form an
opinion whether it would be advisable to open the
schools after the holidays, I addressed on April
23rd, letters to some of the Medical Practitioners
asking for the number of cases they were attending
and whether they considered the epidemic on the
increase. The majority of the replies led me to
the conclusion that it was safe to open the schools
and I found that after opening, the attendances had
in no way decreased and very few of those who
were absent suffered from measles.
By some it is contended that no advantage is
gained by the closing of schools, that infection is
spread equally by the mixing together of the affected
and healthy in the streets or in the play-ground.
But the conditions are not the same. The infection