[Report 1906] / Medical Officer of Health, Macclesfield Borough.

  • Macclesfield (England). Borough Council.
Date:
1906
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1906] / Medical Officer of Health, Macclesfield Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    120/128 (page 118)
    132 cases occurred in houses with clean water closets. 22 in houses with waste water closets. 2 in houses with pail closets. 283 in houses with privy midden closets. In 38 cases these were wet and offensive, or defect]ve. In 1 21 cases they were offensive. In 17 cases the drainage was defective. In 2 cases the drains were choked. In 5 cases the house was overcrowded. CASES NOT SENT INTO HOSPITAL. The 143 cases not sent into Hospital, were distributed in 88 houses. 1 think on the whole, no great amount of in¬ fection was traceable to this source, though obviously the average working man’s house lends itself badly to the prolonged isolation of a child sufferim>’ from Scarlet-fever. In one instance we took proceedings before the Magistrates in respect of a girl kept at home, who had been permitted to go out on a bicycle, through the streets, and a fine of five shillings and costs was imposed. The cases nursed at home were visited at intervals by the Inspector, to see that proper precautions were being taken. In the case of home workers, every effort was made to prevent infection spreading, and pressure was always brought to bear in such cases where needed to get the sufferer into Hospital. The value of Hospital accommodation is now much understood by the working classes in this town. We have rarely any difficulty in inducing parents to consent to the removal of their children to Hospital, when suffering from Scarlet-fever. In some cases we have had to refuse to take cases, when we tem¬ porarily ran short of accommodation during the height of the epidemic. METHODS OF DISINFECTION. We have relied on Formic Aldehyde in five per cent, solution, distributed by means of a spray on the walls, ceilings, Ac., of the infected rooms, after removal, of as much of the bedding, clothing, Ac., to the disinfector. This latter is a Thresh seven foot furnace, heated current steam (superdieated) Disin¬ fector. i