54
Dr. Cayley's SIR,
Report.
His report and thé instructions issued are printed below :—
I have the honour to report that Mr. Clark, the Superintendent of Disinfection
in the Central District, has consulted me with reference to the disinfection of clothes,
leather, &c.
The solution of Perchloride of Mercury, as supplied from Foras Road, is
not suitable for disinfecting clothes, owing to the large percentage of acid that it
contains.
It is most important that the clothes, bedding, &c., of an infected person should
be disinfected. I find that it has been the custom in the Central District to burn
those articles that were of small value and to leave the remainder untouched. The
best method of disinfecting clothes is undoubtedly in a steam disinfector. Owing to
the distances and the number of articles requiring disinfection this is not practicable.
To disinfect the clothes phenyle might be used. As it is not convenient to keep
clothes for a long time in the solution of phenyle, it is necessary te make the solution
a strong one. A suitable solution could be made by adding a cupful of phenyle to a
bucket of water, using cups and buckets of the same size as those now used to make
the diluted Perchloride solution. As soon as the disinfecting party enters a house
for disinfection, the clothes should be collected and placed in a tub or tubs of the
phenyle solution made of the strength given above. They should be left in the
solution until the disinfection of the room is completed and should then be wrung
out and hung up to dry. The time occupied in disinfecting a room is over 20
minutes, which will give ample time to disinfect the clothes using phenyle of the
above strength. Leather cannot be soaked in the solution in the same way without
spoiling it. Leather should be well swabbed all over with a cloth dipped in phenyle
solution, for this purpose the phenyle solution should be stronger than that given
above. In making the solutions the phenyle should be put in the bucket before
adding the water—for making a solution for treating leather the bucket should only
be half filled with water. After the leather has been thus treated the bucket can be
filled up with water, and the solution used for clothes. A tub once filled with
phenyle can be used for a series of clothes.
For bedding, matresses and other similar bulky articles, the only method to
efficiently disinfect these is to have them carted to the steam steriliser and there
disinfected. It is only occasionally that articles of this description will be found in
infected rooms, and I think it would be practicable to have them treated in this way.
I have found that a distinction is being drawn between so called suspicious
cases and cases of undoubted plague. This is not very logical, and in all doubtful
cases the disinfection should be as thorough and complete as in cases of plague.
There is no doubt that efficient disinfection is the main factor in stamping out an
epidemic of an infectious disease. Now that there are only a few cases to deal with
disinfection can and should be carried out most thoroughly. More time can be spent
on individual cases, and in every room in which a death occurs, unless the cause of
death is absolutely above suspicion, should be thoroughly disinfected. The period
which intervenes between two epidemics, and the very early stages of an epidemic
are the only times when the disease can be coped with, and when thorough dis-
infection is likely to have any real effect in stamping out the disease.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your most obedient Servant,
C. H. CAYLEY.