[Report 1908] / Medical Officer of Health, Chesterfield Borough.

  • Chesterfield (England). Borough Council.
Date:
1908
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1908] / Medical Officer of Health, Chesterfield Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    28/50 (page 26)
    Twenty-four of the cases occurred in the West- Ward, 6 of which were in the month of March. Two patients were removed for operation to the Chesterfield and North Derbyshire Hospital, where they died. It is not often necessary to remove the patients to the hospital when a protected cordon is placed round the patient by the administration of anti- diphtheritic serum to the persons in contact with him. This is shown by the fact that since the Penmore Isolation Hospital was opened, 88 houses have been known to be infected, but the total number of cases was only 94. Three of the secondary cases were notified simultaneously with the other case in the house. No house had more than two cases. The advocates of hospital treat- ment cannot find much support for their view in these figures. It is of advantage to have a patient in hospital when the operation of tracheotomy is performed, but this is a poor argument, for if the disease be recognised at an early stage it should be rare for surgical interference to be necessary. Ex- pense should be a matter of secondary considera- tion where human life is concerned, but it may be asked if it is worth while to bear the expense of maintaining a special block of an isolation hospital for the comparatively few cases of the district. It would not lessen the number of cases. Would it.