[Report 1897] / Medical Officer of Health, Folkestone Borough.

Folkestone (England). Borough Council.

Date:: 1897

Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: [Report 1897] / Medical Officer of Health, Folkestone Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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In September there were two groups of cases caused by the infection being imported, one by a visitor, the other by a child returning to school in the same condition, i.e., nasal diphtheria after the holidays, as in the instance stated above. In the last quarter the chief incidence was again in the North and East wards. In many cases insanitary conditions were found to exist at the houses of the patients, and although some occurred amongst scholars at the various elementary schools, I could find no evidence of the dissemination being caused by school influence. The remark I have made on tie causes likely to favour the incidence of Diarrhoea hold good also with Diph- theria, and by carrying out the recommendations before made I feel sure the health of the town will be much benefited. Typhoid Fever.—There have been 40 notifications of this disease. With the exception of one case reported in January, no cases occured until March, when an out- break arose, distributed over that month and April, giving rise to 5 cases. These were all supplied by a dairy, outside the Borough, which had caused the trouble in the previous winter. Steps were taken under Section 4 of the Infectious Disease Prevention Act, and the water at one of the cow keepers premises was found polluted, the supply of milk was suspended until the tank had been cleaned out. No further cases occurred, with the exception of a case imported from the continent in May, until September. During this month 6 cases were reported ; three of these were persons who returned to the town from Maidstone, where the disease v.'as prevalent, already ill with it; a fourth was due to infection from a patient who had been sent down convalescing from typhoid, and who was the cause of