Dr R.J. Reece's report to the Local Government Board on the sanitary circumstances and administration of the Clutton Rural District, and of that portion of the ecclesiastical parish of Peasedown St. John which is situated in the Bath Rural District.

  • Reece, Richard James, 1862-1924.
Date:
1910
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Dr R.J. Reece's report to the Local Government Board on the sanitary circumstances and administration of the Clutton Rural District, and of that portion of the ecclesiastical parish of Peasedown St. John which is situated in the Bath Rural District. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

    39/44 (page 9)
    Year. Scarlet Fever. Diphtheria, including Membranous Croup. Typhoid Fever, including Continued Fever. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Deaths. 1894 50 1 3 3 4 2 1895 59 2 8 4 22 2 1896 55 2 6 6 4 — 1897 57 — 4 3 14 1 1898 4 — 5 2 3 — 1899 10 — 15 4 11 5 1900 115 3 35 6 5 1 1901 143 3 153 28 15 4 1902 114 6 203 33 9 1 1903 144 3 100 9 29 3 1904 95 3 60 6 23 10 1905 64 4 28 5 8 3 1906 43 — 23 1 13 1 1907 33 2 22 3 12 3 1908 138 — 59 1 11 2 1909 (to Sept.30th)... 340 4 142 7 2 — On receipt of a notification certificate/ but not always immedi- ately, the medical officer of health telephones or writes to the inspector of nuisances, who calls to advise the occupants and to give a leaflet of instructions. Parents are verbally instructed to keep their children away from day and Sunday schools, but no intimation is sent to the head teacher or to the school attendance officer. In the absence of such intimation, the school teacher may be placed at a disadvantage in the event of children continuing to attend school contrary to instructions. Effective isolation in the home, not infrequently overcrowded, is usually impossible of attainment. The infected child plays with its brothers and sisters, not yet infected, walks about the house and garden, and almost certainly comes into contact sooner or later during the infectious period with other children. I visited several houses in which cases were undergoing “home isolation,” and in each instance found that effective isolation was impossible. Infectious diseases nursed under these home conditions show a tendency to “ run through the whole house,” and multiple cases commonly occur. Infectious disease has been exceedingly prevalent during 1909. In the second quarter of the year 150 cases of scarlet fever were notified, and 138 in the third quarter, while 54 cases of diphtheria were notified in the first quarter, 55 in the second quarter, and 33 in the third quarter. The isolation hospital is used only for cases of small-pox and typhoid fever. # Some medical practitioners in the district delay notifying cases ; certificates are sometimes not sent in until a batch of them has accumulated. The district council should warn them of the requirements of the Notification Act. 14827 B