[Report 1905] / Medical Officer of Health, Paignton U.D.C.

  • Paignton (England). Urban District Council.
Date:
1905
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1905] / Medical Officer of Health, Paignton U.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    10/14 (page 8)
    Scarlet Fever. Enteric Fever. Drainage. Scavenge Disposal. Water. at work in a large public work at Holne, sixteen miles from this town, where a person suffering from this disease had been taken on as a labourer but did not remain sufficently long to be seen by any medical man and his illness was not recognised as one of Small Pox. However, within twelve days four men, this patient being one of tliem and he came home, were taken ill with the disease. Immediately on receiving the notification I got into communication with Dr. Johnson, the Medical Officer of Health of the district of Holne and made an arranofement with him to receive this case into the Small Pox encampment that was being made. After the patient was removed the house was most carefully disinfected and the bedding burnt, every person who had been in contact was sought out and all submitted to re-vaccination. An agreement was entered into that in consideration of the Paignton Sanitary Authority providing food and other necessaries all the contacts would remain indoors over the incubation period ; this I believe they did and Mr. Crathorn, the Sanitary Inspector, looked after them. No other case occurred. There have been only a few sparodic cases this year and eight cases were notified ; three of the cases were in one house and I heard nothing until the third case of illness. No doubt the parent had deliberately held back the information and the excuse was that the lodgers might be frightened away. All the three were at once removed to the Isolation Hospital and the house thoroughly disinfected, and there was no further spreading of the desease. Five cases were notified during the year and there is no doubt one of them was imported for the patient was brought home verv ill. Two of the cases were removed to the hospital and one died. This was the only death during the year from notifiable desease. Great attention has been paid to the sewers during the year and the result has been that the town has been spared the flooding that had taken place so often in previous years, so that for the time we can manage but the subject must not be shelved. Here is another matter that apparently cannot be put off very much longer. Every year it becomes more difficult to secure places for the disposing of the scavenge and every year the cost of cartage is increasing and the provision of a destructor should be taken into consideration. 'The water engineer reports that the pipe line to the service reservoir at Marldon is completed, and connexion has been made with the present storage reservoir so that