The failure of any person mentioned in Section 551 to report, or the failure of any maternity home, hospital, or similar institution, to use the treatment prescribed in Section 551 and to record any and all cases of ophthalmia neonatorum, as directed in Section 553, or the failure or refusal of any person or institution, mentioned in this article, to obey any rule or regulation adopted by the department under this article constitutes a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined, for the first offense not to exceed one hundred dollars ($100); for a second offense not to exceed two hundred dollars ($200); and for a third offense, and thereafter not to exceed four hundred dollars ($400) for each violation.