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41
again fumigated and after that allowed to remain for two days with
all the windows open. The bedding then was returned home and the
family allowed to re-occupy the room. The prolonged steaming of
articles of attire frequently did harm to their general appearance,
and in many cases compensation had to be made for the damage.
The amount of money expended in this way for the whole epidemic
has not exceeded £80.
There are two disinfecting stations in the Borough, one of which
was kept exclusively for Small-pox, together with the collecting and
discharging vans and ambulance for the removal of families, which
had been in contact with cases, to the Reception House. In the
table giving the number of families which have passed through the
Reception House, it is shown that in the early part of the epidemic
each person remained on an average 5 days, whereas in the later
period the time was only 3 days.
Contacts—
In respect to persons who had been in contact with cases of
Small-pox, and who worked or resided in other boroughs, information
was at once sent to the Medical Officer of those Boroughs. It was
found in a few cases that information as to their workplace was withheld
by contacts. Considerable tact and care had to be exercised in
the use of information so obtained from other boroughs. Our way
was to send for the person who had been in contact, vaccinate him,
and give him a certificate to enable him to continue his work.
All unvaccinated contacts were visited regularly for 14 days.
All contacts not feeling well were directed to send at once to the
Medical Officer of Health.
The Medical Officer as Expert.
From the commencement of the epidemic a very large part of my
time was occupied in this work. To my mind it was all important that
no case for want of this assistance should be kept at home.
I find on referring to our records that 44 cases were returned home
from the hospital as not suffering from Small-pox. This number does not
include some 150 cases, of suspicious rashes in which the diagnosis was
corrected. I feel that the Borough has been much indebted to the medical
men practising in it for their ready and indeed anxious desire to get cases
removed from the district to hospital.
I have at the same time to acknowledge with pleasure the
services of all those officers who have been concerned in this epidemic,
and to regret that recently we have lost through death the Superintendent