Manawatu Herald. "THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 1896. Infectious Diseases.

Manawatu Herald, 18 June 1896, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. "THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 1896. Infectious Diseases.

: » • On Tuesday ,Dr Lamb reported to the Borough : Council the fact that two persona residing within the Borough were attacked with scarlet fever. His direotion for so doing is contained in '" The Public Health Act 1876 " whiclvwe regret to say, is only studiedby our local Council on a case of this sort being reported. The Act deserves better attention being given to it as it was framed to secure the minimum of harm arising from any infectious disease being imported into the district. The position of matters at present is nothing of a nature to cause alarm, i but is sufficiently serious to make it incumbent on every householder to exercise all the caution he is possessed of. By prompt action the I disease may be prevented from taking a hold in our midst, but it is only by united action that this can be secured. The Act makes it imperative that every householder must give notice to the Local Board ot Health, which, in this district, is the Borough Council, of anyone within his house being taken sick of any highly infectious disease, failing which he becomes liable to a penalty of £10. The object of thi3 is very plain, namely to give the Board an opportunity to see that the affected person is isolated and disinfected. This is where we fear our Council is a good deal off the road, for though they carefully accept the reports of the dootor and- ■place implicit trust in his skill, they make no provision to ascertain whether there may not be many cases in existence to which the doctor may not have been summoned. .Thus if the householder through ignorance, or otherwise, ignores the Act it is just an accident and nothing elseif. the Board learns anything about it. ; . What is everybody's business "becomes frequently no one's business and we gather that this is how our Health Act is overlooked here. The patients Dr Lamb attends to we may all believe will be mo3t carefully looked after and the householder ably advised as to disinfectants, but the danger the public will incur is from those who have not th« advantage of this attention. We heed an Inspector under this Act who should make a personal visit to each house within certain periods whilst this disease is in the district and inquire into the health of the inmates and in cases where sickness exists and if its nature is doubtful the Inspector should be authorised to obtain a doctor's certificate. We think no one would object to this being done if, in cases where poverty stood in the way, the Board undertook to pay the doctor's fee, which, by the Aot, they are authorised to do. We think the question is of sufficient importance to authorise the Mayor holding a special meeting to obtain the requisite authority from the Council, and to secure the appointment of an Inspector. A careful consideration of the case will con- 1 vince all that without an active I

Inspector the Act is really a dead letter, and the reports of the doctor so much waste paper. We are assured that scarlatina or scarlet fever is sometimes of such a mild form that no one knows the patient has been attacked with it, until its after effects are noticed. We believe the disease was introduced here from Wellington in some such manner, the introducer suffering hardly at all, but the one who caught it from him had it severely. Thus the fever was passed on, and it is only by the utmost care in disinfecting and isolation of patients will it be stamped out.