asked the Minister for Health if he has now ascertained whether the room in which two attendants in Dundrum Criminal Lunatic Asylum were sleeping when they successively contracted tuberculosis was disinfected after the condition of the first attendant had been diagnosed and he had been removed to hospital and before the second attendant contracted the disease; and if he will state (a) the manner; (b) by whom; and (c) the date on which the mattress of the first attendant's bed was destroyed and when it was replaced.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Conditions in Dundrum Asylum.
I have made further inquiries in regard to this case and I have ascertained that the floor of the room occupied by the two attendants referred to by the Deputy was washed with disinfectant on several occasions during the short period in which the first attendant, whom I shall continue to call attendant B, was confined to bed therein. The floor was similarly washed after attendant B had been removed to hospital.
On the basis of information supplied by the Dundrum Asylum authorities, I stated in reply to the Deputy's previous question of 16th December, 1948, on this subject that the mattress on the bed of attendant B was destroyed immediately after the attendant had been taken to hospital. I am now informed that, while the mattress was taken away on the day following that on which the attendant was brought to hospital, the mattress itself was not actually destroyed or burnt, but that it was cast away in a separate storeroom, together with other stores, condemned as unfit for further use. The mattress was replaced three months later in April, 1947. As I have already informed the Deputy, I am satisfied that the precautionary measures generally taken by the Dundrum Asylum authorities were adequate to prevent the likelihood of the spread of the disease.
Arising out of the Minister's reply, while I have no personal knowledge of the circumstances of this case, would it surprise the Minister to learn that there are people who are prepared to give evidence on oath, if necessary, that the mattress in question used by attendant B in this particular case was neither destroyed nor given away, but is still in use under an inmate at the present time or, at least, was in use up to quite recently? Further, is it not obligatory when a person is removed to hospital suffering from an infectious disease—even from a private dwellinghouse—to have the room occupied by such person sealed and disinfected?
In reply to the Deputy, that is quite a serious charge he has made. I feel that in justice to the authorities in Dundrum Asylum I should give them an opportunity of answering that charge and I shall be very glad to have the whole matter further investigated. In that investigation I hope I shall receive the assistance of the Deputy in carrying it out. With regard to infectious diseases and the sterilisation of rooms, disinfecting is carried out in certain cases but the absolute necessity of doing this is not completely established. I repeat that the precautions which it has been reported to me were taken by the authorities were adequate to prevent a further spread of the infectious disease.
As I have already said, I have no personal knowledge of this particular case but I will co-operate with the Minister by all means if the people who gave me the information will make it available for the Minister.
Can the Minister tell us how long attendant B was ill and how long he was occupying the same room as the other attendant before his illness was diagnosed and he was removed?
In reply to a similar question by the Deputy on a previous occasion I informed the Deputy that the man became ill in January; his illness was diagnosed in January and he was removed on the 4th February.