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Smallpox.
No case of this disease occurred in the Borough during the
year, but some persons who travelled on a ship on which a case
occurred proceeded to this Borough and were visited daily by a
Sanitary Inspector until all danger of contracting the disease
had passed.
Scabies.
There were 21 cases of scabies notified and in every case the
Sanitary Inspector visited the patient's home to arrange for all
members of the family to attend at the Council's Cleansing
Station for treatment. The record of such attendances is set out
in the table appearing on page 24.
Food Poisoning.
The following is a copy of the Return of Food Poisoning
Notifications for 1952 which was forwarded to the Ministry of
Health as required by Circular 46/49 dated the 24th May, 1949.
1. Local Authority: CAMBERWELL. Year: 1952.
2. FOOD POISONING NOTIFICATIONS (CORRECTED) RETURNED TO
R.G.
Ist Quarter 2nd Quarter 3rd Quarter 4th Quarter Total
8 4 6 2 20
3. OUTBREAKS DUE TO IDENTIFIED AGENTS.
Total Outbreaks : Nil. Total cases : Nil.
Outbreaks due to:-
(a) Chemical poisons ... ... ... Nil.
(b) Salmonella Organisms ... ... Nil.
(c) Staphylococci (including toxin) ... Nil.
(d) CI. Botulinum ... ... ... ... Nil.
(e) Other bacteria ... ... ... ... Nil.
4. OUTBREAKS OF UNDISCOVERED CAUSE.
Total outbreaks : 4. Total cases : 99*.
5. SINGLE CASES.
Agent identified : Nil. Unknown cause : 14. Total : 14.
* 93 of these cases were not notified.
It will be seen that although only 20 cases were notified,
a further 93 came to the notice of the Department. These
resulted from a report from a school in the northern part of the
Borough that some of the children and staff had been taken ill
after consumption of a midday meal at the school. On investigation,
it was found that the food suspected was prepared
in the school kitchen and was also distributed to two other schools
—one in this Borough and one in Lewisham. Enquiries were
made at the second school in Camberwell but there was no
evidence of any suspicious illness among the pupils or staff. The