The evolution of the function of public health administration : as illustrated by the sanitary history of Glasgow in the nineteenth century, and especially since 1854, with an exposition of results / by James B. Russell.

  • Russell, James Burn, 1837-1904.
Date:
1895
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The evolution of the function of public health administration : as illustrated by the sanitary history of Glasgow in the nineteenth century, and especially since 1854, with an exposition of results / by James B. Russell. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

    133/174 (page 109)
    changed all that. The mention of Erysipelas in the same category as Small-pox, Typhus, &c., and the compulsory notification to the Medical Officer of all alike brought with it the implication of similar responsibilities resting upon the authorities. Medical men began to recommend removal to hospital, and above all the Inspectors of Poor referred paupers suflfering from Erysipelas to the Sanitary Depart- ment. The result has been that of the 1446 persons treated in the municipal hospitals in 24 years, 926 have been treated in the 5 years of the Notification Act, and only 520 in the prior 19 years, or 185 per annum in place of 27. Erysipelas follows Scarlet Fever, though with a long interval, in the number notified, which was 5756, of which 16 per cent, were removed to hospital. This is a very troublesome result of placing Erysipelas as an infectious disease in the same category as those in the prevention of which the hospital occupies a foremost and essential place. Our experience of Erysipelas as notified is that it is either some slight condition of tumefaction and redness, frequently in the vicinity of the nose, which sits so lightly on the individual that when the inspector calls he is out, or it is a complication of some serious surgical condition, a blush on the surface of an abscess or over a periostitis, or the disease mvolves the deep cellular tissue and ends in a serious surgical condition. The former class of cases is the subject of jocular remark among the staft' who notice that they are most frequent in the notifications of Monday mornino-s The latter leads to remonstrances from the hospital where the men find themselves burdened with the care of surgical cases which require free expenditure of time in dres^sin^ and which occupy beds for months on end. Ample as the resources of Glasgow are Erysipelas is as regards hospital treatment a great nuisance. We find it impossible in times of epidemic Scarlet Fever to deal with it, and require to get assistance from the general hospitals and to appeal to the parishes to accommodate their paupers. At all times we are without the satisfaction of belief in the preventive