[Report 1905] / Medical Officer of Health, Melton Mowbray R.D.C.
- Melton Mowbray (England). Rural District Council.
- Date:
- 1905
Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Credit: [Report 1905] / Medical Officer of Health, Melton Mowbray R.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![[5] particularly of the persons and things which have been in the sick room. It is useless to stove or spray a sick room with disinfectants and whitewash the walls, if articles of wearing apparel, carpets, &c. which have been left in the room go without being disinfected. As soon as ever an infection case is known to exist, all unnecessary furniture, curtains, carpets, clothing, drawers, boxes, &c., should be removed from the room ; the attendants should only wear washable clothing, and if they go out of the room the)' should change their garments before coming in contact with other people ; only such toys and books should be allowed in the room as can afterwards be destroyed. If the case has not been recognised for several days every article in the room, no matter what its nature or composition, ought to be disinfected as thoroughly as if they had remained in the room, during the entire illness ; there is no other way to stamp out such diseases ! Isolation of the patient is decidedly the proper thing lor he is the source of the infection ; but it is useless to isolate the patient and omit the thorough disinfection of everything that has been within the sphere of his influence. Whatever article can be boiled ought to be boiled ; what cannot be boiled must be soaked in a solution of carbolic acid or other disinfectant of sufficient strength to destroy the microbes ; and all solid articles of furniture, the doors, windows and window frames, the floors &c. must be thoroughly cleaned with such a disinfectant. In the case of floors, the cracks or crevices between the boards or in the plaster are a special source of danger ; these are a favourite breeding ground for flies, fleas, and other insects, and unless they are thoroughly freed from dust and dirt and cleansed with a disinfectant they will assuredly store a re¬ serve of the microbes of any infectious disease which has run its course in that room. The paper should never be allowed to remain on the walls of such a room, for disease microbes have many times been obtained from such paper ; and the ceiling should be scraped and lime-washed ; where the walls have been “washed” the previous coat should be removed by scraping or otherwise cleansing it before white or colour washing. Our Inspector always sprays the bed¬ rooms with formalin or stoves them with sulphur, but this is not held out as being all that is necessary. It is unfortunate that the Council does not possess a proper disinfecting stove for the purpose of disinfecting bedding, mattresses and other unwashable articles. This is an important matter. The microbes of a disease can—and probably always do affect the bed and mattress slept on by an infected person ; and one cannot be sure that sulphur or formalin will penetrate such articles and destroy the microbes in the time which they are exposed to them. On the other hand, all disease germs may be destroyed by a proper degree of heat; but this can only be applied in a suitable manner by a proper apparatus. I have frequently mentioned the need for](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b29795850_0007.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
