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being responsible for the outbreak, but no carrier could
be discovered. Enquiries into the food and water supply
also proved fruitless and the sanitary defects which
were found did not account for the infection.
The Fulham children who were affected had been
in the habit of playing together. Three of them lived
in the same house, their two families using the same
W.C., and the same copper; without doubt these circumstances
accounted for the spread of the disease.
I am grateful to Dr. Elworthy and Dr. W. Gordon
Sears for much valuable help during the outbreak.
Outbreak of Food Poisoning at the Fulham
Institution.
An outbreak of food poisoning, due to Bacillus
Aertrycke, occurred in this institution in September,
1927, and was investigated by Dr. G. C. Hancock, of the
Ministry of Health, and myself.
Thirty-two of the inmates were affected and two
of the cases unfortunately proved fatal. The two
patients who died were men aged 82 and 62 years
respectively, and the majority of those attacked were
over 60 years of age.
Clinical features.—The first patient became ill on
Friday, 2nd September, four hours after a mid-day
meal containing tinned corned beef among other articles,
and the times of onset of the illnesses in the thirty-two
cases, including the first case, were as follows:—
Ten cases on Friday, 2nd September.
Two cases on Saturday, 3rd September, before the
mid-day meal.
Six cases on Saturday, 3rd September, after the midday
meal.
Thirteen cases on Sunday, 4th September.
One case on Monday, 5th September.
All the patients were admitted to the Fulham
Hospital.