[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Lambeth].

  • Lambeth (London, England). Parish. Vestry.
Date:
1878
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: [Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Lambeth]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: City of London, London Metropolitan Archives

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    20 of its being communicated, and in such a case medical advice is probably not sought for until several members of the family are found falling in succession. This is one of the strongest argu ments possible in the legislating for a system of registration of disease, for making it compulsory on the part of the householder or head of a family to give notico of the existenco of any infec tious disease. Another fruitful source of the spread of Small Pox, &c., is where two or more families reside in one house. Where it happens in one family, it is frequently kept secret from tho other, the chief cause of the suppression of the information being the dreaded loss of business or occupation. And here I would remark, that during the recent epidemic, I have witnessed some painful cases of families becoming impoverished by loss of trade or occupation; but in every case this result would have been averted if the aid of this department had been called in at tho onset of the disease. The observance of tho foregoing facts has led me to consider what would constitute the most practicable and most efficient system of compulsory re-vaccination. As to a system compelling every one to be re-vaccinated at different ages, I can conceive many objections; but instead of so general an application, I would suggest that it be made com pulsory throughout any family or families residing in a house in which a case of Small Pox has occurred, and that any medi cal man, whether an appointed Public Vaccinator or not, should be paid by the State for performing the operation. One of the greatest objections to the present regime is that Public Vacci nators only are paid for vaccinating, the result of which is to create an antagonism between him and the private practitioner. A further hindrance to successful vaccination is, that Public Vaccinators are not encouraged by additional payment to vacci nate persons at their homes. THE WATER SUPPLY. Of the waters supplied from the Thames, that delivered by
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