Special report on the recent outbreak of diphtheria / by J.T.C. Nash, Medical Officer of Health.

  • Southend-on-Sea City Council
Date:
[1902]
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: Special report on the recent outbreak of diphtheria / by J.T.C. Nash, Medical Officer of Health. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    two cases were notified. Enquiries made gave 3rd August as the date of onset in one of these. This illustrates another method by which infectious diseases are spread. Parents under-estimate the gravity of a “ sore throat,” and medical advice is not obtained for several days. In the meantime the infected person is not isolated, and the disease is spread. Importation of the disease and non¬ recognition of the gravity of certain forms of sore throats on the part of parents and neglect in sending early for medical advice, and consequent want of early isolation of an infected person, are, in my opinion, the two principal sources of the outbreak. On 16th August, a case was notified secondary to one notified on nth August; these two children were not removed to Hospital. On the 20th, a case was notified secondary to one notified on the 15th ; in this instance the first child had been removed to Hospital. On the 21st August, two children were notified from one family, and another boy was notified who had been in contact with a previous case. On 24th August, a boy, aged 2, was notified. No further notification was received until the 28th August, in the person of a visitor from Islington, aged 2\ years. On the 29th, two cases were notified, one as the result of a bacteriological diagnosis. This person was a visitor who had come to Southend with a sore throat, of which the parents thought little, as “ She often has sore throats.” The last case notified in August wxis on the 29th, in the person of a boy, aged 11, from Southchurch Parish. Preventive Measures.—The local practitioners have been written to on the matter and advised of my willingness to examine swabs of the throat and nose of persons convalescing from Diphtheria treated at home, prior to certifying them as free from infection. Whenever possible a notified case was received into Hospital the same day. Owing to the strain on the present hospital accom¬ modation, consequent on the outbreak of Typhoid Fever in June and July due to infected cockles (already reported on by me to the Town Council and the Local Government Board and the Essex County Council), much difficulty was experienced in providing accommodation for all the cases notified, particularly as a few cases of Scarlet Fever also cropped up and provision had to be made for