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54
Of the 182 patients treated in the cubicles 18 showed indefinite signs
of any infectious disease during their stay in Hospital; 20 were cases of
Scarlet Fever, which had no definite signs or symptoms on admission,
but later showed typical desquamation; 9 were cases of Scarlet Fever
and Diphtheria; 26 were removed to "G" after admission on account
of suspicious symptoms. The majority of these were patients admitted
as Diphtheria, who proved to have no Diphtheria bacilli present, and
whose other symptoms suggested that they might have had a slight
attack of Scarlet Fever; 12 were cases of acute Nephritis complicating
Scarlet Fever. These are found to make very satisfactory progress
in the cubicles, owing probably to the warm, equable temperature it is
possible to maintain there.
These few particulars may perhaps serve to illustrate what an important
part this block plays in the administration of the Hospital It should
also be taken into consideration that each cubicle can be thoroughly
disinfected without any delay and without any inconvenience to any
other patients in the block, and that it is not necessary to provide any
sick-room accommodation for the staff, as any illness, infections, or
otherwise can be satisfactorily dealt with in a cubicle.
TYPHOID FEVER.
Thirteen cases of this disease were notified during the year—the
smallest number recorded since 1890.
The attack rate is less than 10 per 100,000 of the population compared
with an average of 58 in preceding years.
In no infected home did a second case arise within the year, and this
is the more extraordinary, considering that, of all the notifiable diseases,
with Typhoid the least care seems to have been exercised for its early
recognition or treatment, judging from the interval elapsing between the
date of onset of illness and subsequent notification.
In ten instances an interval of nearly a month had elapsed, and in
one eighteen days, before a doctor was called in to see the patients.
In one instance the notification came subsequent to death, in one
after five weeks' attendance by a doctor, and not until other members of
the family contracted the disease, and in another within fifteen days
the patient was pronounced to be well and the contents of the sick room
were disinfected.