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long. Specimens from the patients and staff revealed no
causative agent, but a sample of pig's trotters (which formed
part of the suspected meal) showed a heavy growth of normally
harmless bacteria. This meat had been cooked on the day
prior to consumption and then reheated just before the meal,
and it is possible that the process had incubated the bacteria
and resulted in gross contamination leading to symptoms of food
poisoning amongst some of the old people. The kitchens, food
storage accommodation, equipment, and the standard of food
handling at this institution were found to be very good, but
the opportunity was taken to warn those in charge of the
dangers of reheating meat.
(c) The third outbreak affected three children in a
Kensington family comprising eight persons. The difficulty
in this outbreak was to pinpoint the possible source of
infection, particularly as none of the food likely to give
rise to suspicion remained for examination. Specimens obtained
from the patients and contacts revealed no causative agent.
The symptoms of pain, diarrhoea and vomiting quickly cleared
up with treatment.
Single cases
In addition to the outbreaks referred to above, there
were thirty-four single cases of food poisoning notified. In
twenty-two of these no causative agent was identified but of the
remaining twelve cases, eleven were found to be caused by
salmonella typhi-murium and one by salmonella oranienbergo
INFECTIOUS DISEASE
Smallpox
No case of smallpox was notified in the borough during the
year 1954. Many persons came to Kensington from places abroad
and were reported to have been "in contact with smallpox". All
contacts were kept under surveillance until the possibility of
developing the disease had disappeared.
In the Ministry of Health's Memorandum on Vaccination
against smallpox, it is recommended that public health officers,
likely to have to deal with cases of smallpox at short notice,
should be regularly re-vaccinated at not more than yearly
intervals. During the year twenty-four members of the staff
of the public health department were vaccinated or re-vaccinated
by the Medical Officer of Health.
Scarlet fever
The number of cases notified in 1954 was fifty-two and,
of this total, twelve were treated in hospital. There was no
fatal case during the year, in fact there has been no death
from scarlet fever in Kensington since 1940.
Diphtheria
No case of diphtheria was notified during 1954. This
is the second time on record when the borough remained free
from this dangerous disease for a whole year. The first
occasion was during the year 1952.
Diphtheria immunisation work, commenced by the Council in
1934, was continued by the London County Council during the
year. A summary of the work carried out in Kensington is as
follows:-