[Report 1903] / Medical Officer of Health, New Windsor Borough.

  • Windsor (Berkshire, England). Borough Council.
Date:
1903
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1903] / Medical Officer of Health, New Windsor Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Small pox was introduced into the Borough hy a man from Cambridge in July. He infected, in the small lodging house where he slept, two other men who had foolishly refused to allow themselves to be re-vaccinated. The three patients were promptly removed to the Small Pox Hospital and all recovered. The condition of these men as regards vaccination was as follows :— W.N. at 40—3 good marks—attack the mildest possible. K.D. at 32—1 good mark—attack mild, disease modified. W.Y. at 46—1 very faint mark—attack severe, semi-con¬ fluent. The hospital was in use from July 22nd to Sept. 26th, and proved, as on former occasions, in all respects sufficient for its purpose and satisfactory. It was certainly by good fortune that the town escaped the danger of a serious epidemic, and the circumstances afford an illustration of the imperfection of the powers for dealing with an outbreak of the kind which the existing law confers upon Sanitary Authorities. Here were four or five persons known to have been exposed to infection and to be insufficiently protected by vaccination. There was probably yet time to prevent the development of the disease, but I could not compel them either to submit to re-vaccination or to remain in seclusion, and consequently two of them, had to be treated at a considerable cost to the public, and great risk of an epidemic was incurred. DiarrhcBa was fatal in two cases only. This disease as is well known, is much influenced by conditions of weather and is always comparatively infrequent in wet summers. No doubt this fact is attributable, at least in Small-pox Diarrhoea.