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INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Bacillary Dysentery
In the early spring of 1962 there was a small outbreak
of sonne dysentery among certain primary school children,
their pre-school siblings and their parents. The outbreak
was confined mainly to pupils of one school, with a few
contact cases at a neighbouring school and a Sunday
School. The school sanitary accommodation and kitchen
facilities were visited by the Public Health Inspector.
These quarters were all in good order and clean, so that
the spread of the infection could again be attributed to
poor personal hygiene and mainly to the fact that the
only adequate washing facilities were situated within
the school, which gave little encouragement to the
children to cleanse their hands after visiting the
external lavatories.
Home visits were made by the Council's Visitors, so
that families could be informed individually about
transmission and prevention of infection. The outbreak
was finally controlled after 118 cases had been notified,
mainly in the five to ten year age groups.
Measles
In accordance with the usual bi-ennial incidence of
measles, this was the year in which notifications of the
disease were expected to be lower than in 1961. In fact,
only 337 cases were notified (2741 during 1961), again
mainly in the five to ten year age group. Measles claims
its largest number of victims during the early years of
school life. Vaccination against this disease will no
doubt be available in the near future.
Food Poisoning
There were fewer notifications of food poisoning
during 1962 - surprisingly, these occurred mainly during
the winter and spring months.
Diphtheria and Poliomyelitis
During 1962, there were no cases of these diseases
within the Borough.