[Report 1944] / Medical Officer of Health, Border R.D.C.

  • Border (England). Rural District Council.
Date:
1944
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1944] / Medical Officer of Health, Border R.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    18/30 (page 16)
    Those in bold type developed diphtheria, those in light followed by the letter C in bold were at one time or another found to be “ carriers,” those in light without any addition, remained clear, both of diphtheria and of being carriers. Mrs. B. was the first to develop the disease followed about 5 days later by Mrs. C. Nose and throat swabs of the rest of the household showed that Miss D. was a carrier. She was isolated in hospital as well. About 2 weeks later one of the “ A ” chil- dren, aged 5, developed diphtheria and went to hospital. Further swabs from the household showed that the two remaining “ A ” children were now carriers, whereas they had previously been clear. They also went to hospital. Finally, about a week later, Mr. A. went down with diphtheria. Further repeated swabs showed no other carriers and the outbreak came to an end. All cases made uninterrupted recoveries. The interesting point here is that the two children of Mrs. B. and Mrs. C were in closer contact with the disease than anyone else as they shared their respective mothers’ beds, and neither developed diphtheria or became carriers and these two were the only persons in the house who had been immunised.