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20
Paratyphoid Fever
It will be noted from the figures that 3 cases of paratyphoid
fever were notified during the year and a report is
set out below on the outbreak of which these cases were a part.
Report on Outbreak of Paratyphoid 'B ' Fever.
The outbreak of Paratyphoid 'B' to be described affected
the Boroughs of Erith and Bexley, the Urban District of
Crayford, the Borough of Dartford and the Dartford Rural
District, the Urban District of Swanscombe, the Urban
Districts of Orpington and Chislehurst and Sidcup, the
Metropolitan Boroughs of Deptford, Lewisham and Fulham
and the County Borough of Brighton. In all 38 cases occurred
and 13 carriers were discovered, and there was, to the best of
my knowledge, one death from this disease.
The point of particular interest is that the cause of the
outbreak appeared to be due to the consumption of synthetic
cream supplied by a food establishment in the Borough of
Erith, and I set out below details of the epidemic and an
account of the measures taken to control it in the Borough and
in the area as a whole.
On the 9th July, 1951, I was first notified of a case of
Paratyphoid 'B' in the Borough of Bexley. The patient had
been sent to hospital where the diagnosis had been established
following the customary investigations. In quick succession
cases were reported from Erith, Crayford, Orpington, Chislehurst
and Sidcup, Dartford and the Dartford Rural District
and steps were taken to ensure that all patients were admitted
to hospital as early as possible for treatment and confirmation
of the diagnosis. In all these districts the Medical Officers
of Health and Sanitary Inspectors made the usual investigations
and before long it became clear that there was a common
factor in the outbreak, namely the consumption of synthetic
cream. This was noticed independently in the separate
districts and I was accordingly notified as the firm was in a
district for which I act as Medical Officer of Health. An
interesting point was the occurrence of 9 cases and 3 carriers
in the County Borough of Brighton, and the Medical Officer
of Health got in touch with me by telephone as he also had
noticed the association with the firm in question.
It was obvious that control measures were necessary and
this was greatly facilitated by the close link which was
established between ourselves and the Health Departments of