HH62/2/ROXBUR/11

Transcription

[Page] 10

the causes, and in one of the tables the death-rates for the
different districts are compared. In the first table the Local
Government districts are compared, and in the others the
Registration districts; but no rates are given for the latter,
the populations being too small to allow of such a method of
comparison being used with any approach to accuracy.
INFECTIOUS DISEASES. - The Act for the Notification of
Infectious Disease not coming into operation until March,
1892, there is no doubt that several single cases of disease
were unheard of, and it has since been found that in some
instances an extravagant notion of the duties and proceed-
ings of the Sanitary Inspector was the cause of things being
kept quiet which might otherwise have become known.
It is to be hoped, however, that the public will soon find
that the Sanitary Inspector is of real use in securing the
disinfection of clothing and houses, and that the intervention
of the Local Authority's officials, it at times troublesome, yet
is also of service to the patient's family, and to some extent
a safeguard to other people. Apart from isolated cases,
there were two small outbreaks which threatened to spread,
one of scarlet fever in the Melrose District and the other of
enteric fever in the Jedburgh District. Our fears, however,
proved groundless, and the fevers were confined to the
locality in which they originated. A full account will be
found in the District reports.
ACTION TAKEN. - There being no fever hospital at the
disposal of the local authorities (with the exception of one
bed in the burgh fever hospital at Hawick), isolation and
disinfection had to be carried out entirely at the patients'
homes, and the difficulties of carrying out thorough disinfec-
tion were materially increased by the absence of any apparatus
for the purpose.
On hearing of a case of infectious disease a visit is at once
made by either the Sanitary Inspector or by me, and to
ensure uniformity the same questions are asked in each case,
and the answers noted in a book provided with a printed

[Page] 11

fly-leaf, pasted in it in such a manner that it may be turned
out, when the printed lines correspond to the lines of the
pages, and the information required under each heading is
entered on the corresponding line of the page. Such a
note-book is more convenient that that in general use. The
fly-leaf is reproduced below:-

Parish. Day. Date.
Address.
Occupier. Owner. Agent.
Patient's Name, Age, Sex.
Workplace or School (Standard).
Sunday School.
Earliest Symptoms and Date.

Disease Notified. Date on Notice.
By whom? Name of Medical Attendant.
Date of his First Visit.
Rest of Family. Names and Ages.

Workplaces and Schools.

Milk Supply.

Sources of Infection.

After making any other inquiries thought necessary, an
examination of the house is made, and the results are noted
in a similar manner. An effort is then made to secure as
complete isolation of the patient as is possible. This is the
most unsatisfactory part of the proceeding, as it entails
trouble on the part of the patient's friends, and there is
difficulty in getting them to follow directions in every par-
ticular, and unless the details are attended to real isolation is
impossible.
Lastly, if it is required, a bottle of carbolic acid is supplied
gratis, with printed directions for its use.