THE TYPHOID EPIDEMIC

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18077, 29 April 1922, Page 10

THE TYPHOID EPIDEMIC

SIX MORE NOTIFICATIONS. SCHOOLS TO REMAIN CLOSED ] INOCULATION TREATMENT. Sit now cases of typhoid fever were notified to the Health Department yester- | day, five from Mount Albert and one ' from thg far end of Mount Eden district. fhis brings the total notifications since the outbreak of tho epidemic to 123, but two of this number have- been diagnosed es para-typhoid, resulting from infection by bacillus not found in Mount Albert. ( Two cases wre pdmitted to the Auck- | lan'i Hospital yesterday, making a total i of S3 cases under treatment, including 89 i patients from M"unt Albert. There wm | accommodation last evening for four more \ males and one female, but additional ac- , amimodavion ."3] be availably to-day for , eight males and 18 females. Another , nurse is sick but there is a possibility i that she may not be suffering from ty- , phoii l No new cases have occurred at tho , Mental Hospiuvl and about 20 patients , are now convalescent. Inoculation has been earned on at the , health ofliee during the last few days. ( the total numb<"-r of inoculations since tlw . outbreak of the epidemic being about 450. . On Monday and iaesday Dr." Davis will be in attendance ai tho Mount Albert . School for the second inoculation of those , who have been sn treated. The system , of inoculation adopted by the Health Department necessitates two inoculations at an interval of about a week or 10 davs. The Health Department has decided that the schools in Mount Albert should rvmain closed next week and the Education Board announces that next week will ' be regarded as the midwinter holidays. HOSPITAL ORGANISATION. Appreciative reference wa» made at the meeting of the Hospital Board last evening to the work accomplished by the chairman of the board, Mr. W. Wallace, the mefl'cal superintendent, Dr. C. E. Maguire, and the hospital staff in connection with the outbreak of typhoid. It was explained that emergency measures b.di t-o bs taken by the chairman and the ho.-rital gup°riutendent to meet the defor hospital accommodation and nmsiug and the board was requested to endorse the action of the chairman in the matter. A motion endorsing the chairman's and recording the board's appreciation of the work of the staff was carried unanimously. OTAHUHU WATER SUPPLY. WELL IN VOLCANIC CRATER. The Borough of Otahuhu is exceptionally fortunate as regards its water supply. In' the crater of Mount Richmond, an extinct volcano about 200 ft. high, a well ; has been sunk about 24ft. to a spring originally divined by the Rev. H. Mason, which is believed to tap a subterranean lake. The mount is in Mie middle of a reserve which cannot be built upon, and tiie actual spring is about lOOft. above sea level, where soakage cannot affect it. From the well the water is pumped into the water tower higher up the hill, whence it is distributed by gravity throughout the borough at the rate of about 100,000 pultons a day. Tests of the water have proved it to have absolutely no bacteriological contents, and the Health Department has stated that the supply is beyond suspicion- An analysis of the water is now being undertaken, and the latest result will bo available shortly. The central portion of the borough is drained by pipes leading into a septic tank, which discharges into the Tamaki River when the tide is suitable. The other houses are served by a pan system, the ultimate discharge being through the septic tank into the river. The rubbish of the borough is emptied on to a tip outside the district, and burnt every week.