§ SIR F. CHANNING (Northamptonshire, E.)To ask the President of the Local Government Board whether he has considered the continued and rapid spread of cerebro-spinal fever in many districts of the country, and the immense proportion of cases terminating in death; what steps he is taking, or proposes to take, to promptly arrest, if possible, the further spread of this disease; and whether he will consider the advisability of forthwith inviting medical experts to assist the Local Government Board in determining what immediate steps should be taken to check, and, if possible, stamp out this disease.
§ (Answered by Mr. John Burns.) I am issuing a circular to the sanitary authorities relative to this disease, and am forwarding to them a memorandum on the subject which has been prepared by the medical officer of the Local Government Board. A Report has recently been made to me by Dr. M. H. Gordon on the micrococcus of epidemic cerebro-spinal meningitis, with special reference to its identification in the upper respiratory passages. This Report is in the Press, and will be published in the course of a few days. If further medical investigation is found necessary in connection with this matter I shall not hesitate to take steps to procure it.