[Report 1907] / Medical Officer of Health, Bath City & County Borough.

  • Bath (England). City and County Borough Council.
Date:
1907
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1907] / Medical Officer of Health, Bath City & County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    31/56 (page 31)
    Disinfection, Ancient and Modern. The old method of disinfecting rooms was by burning sulphur or by chlorine. In Bath chlorine was preferred, the chemicals were not heated, and only a negligible amount of chlorine was produced, but the odour was sufficient to satisfy the public. Large quantities of 11 Sanitary Fluid'’ were used to disinfect drains, and the livei banks were freely sprinkled during the summer months, with disinfecting powder. Modern bacteriological methods of testing have shown that gases do not easily penetrate bulky articles, unless aided by artificial suction and pressure. To disinfect pillows and bedding they must be put into an air-tight chamber, and the air exhausted, after which, steam or some disinfectant such as formalin must be forced into the interstices of the material. To disinfect rooms the walls and floors may be sprayed with a one per cent, solution of formalin, and the room closed for a couple of hours. I he ceilings should afterwards be lime-washed, the paper scraped from the walls, and the floors washed with water and a non-volatile disinfectant of ascertained strength. We carry out these methods in dealing with dangerously infectious disease, and they are recommended for rooms which have been occupied by consumptive persons. But the infection of diphtheria, scarlet fever and measles, is much less persistent and such drastic methods of disinfection are not commonly adopted. Steam disinfection of the bedding and the formalin spray for rooms generally suffice. The removal and isolation of infected persons is far more important than disinfection. Inanimate objects seldom convey infection but the dust of rooms recently occupied by infec- tious persons is dangerous, and curtains and materials which harbour dust should not be used in school rooms or public places. Domestic pets and the common housefly are no doubt responsible for a great many cases of disease. A disinfectant with a powerful odour is of of great service in keeping flies from rubbish heaps, but in towns collections of putrefying matter should not be allowed. The good system of scavengering and methods of dealing with house rubbish, which obtain in Bath, have probably a great deal to do with the decline of infectious disease, but still further improvement is possible, and I look forward to the time when house rubbish shall be collected more frequently and conveyed in covered receptacles direct from the house, instead of being transferred in the streets, from the receptacles to the carts.