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Number of pre-school children immunised 1,383
" " school " " 302
" " re-inforcing injections given 1,657
" " children attending for pre-Schick
tests 414
" which gave a positive reaction 352
" " " " negative reaction 75
" of children attending for post-Schick
tests 873
" proving negative 749
" proving positive 49
" who failed to attend for reading 63
Enteric Fever
During the year, there were five cases of typhoid fever and
five of paratyphoid B. fever. Of the ten cases, nine were removed to
hospital for treatment, and no deaths occurred.
The first case of typhoid fever involved an Iraqui student,
who had suffered intermittent symptoms throughout his stay in this
country. In hospital, he was regarded as a long standing carrier of
the disease.
The second case occurred in a man who virtually never left his
home owing to epilepsy; he had never been abroad. Investigations,
including the examination of faeces specimens submitted by all contacts,
revealed nothing to indicate the source of infection.
Tht third case was a girl aged 14 years who fell ill following
a long continental tour. Her mother and sister were investigated and
found to be free from infection, and no further cases occurred. The
source of infection was believed to be abroad.
The fourth and fifth cases were a mother and her daughter aged
3 years. The husband and the second child remained well. The family
had never been abroad and there was no contact with other cases in
Kensington, either recent or remote. It was alleged, during the
investigations, that the lavatory at the tenement house in which the
family lived was often fouled. Accordingly, faeces specimens were obtained
from every occupant in the house, but all were reported negative.
The first case of paratyphoid B fever occurred in a man who
had recently returned from Paris where he had spent ten days on business.
No other members of his family were ill (they had remained in London) and
the specimens they submitted were negative.
The second case was a young lady who fell ill on arrival in
Kensington after leaving a summer occupation on the South Coast. She was
immediately admitted to hospital and the Medical Officer of Health of the
area from whence she came was informed of her movements. However, nothing
was found to indicate the source of infection.
The third case came to light when contacts of a suspected case
of typhoid fever (subsequently diagnosed as a non-infectious illness)
submitted faeces specimens for bacteriological examination. The specimen
submitted by a lady aged 62 years was reported positive for paratyphoid B
fever. It was established in hospital that she was a carrier, probably
as a result of an attack many years before when she lived abroad.
The remaining two cases were children aged 1 and 3 years
respectively in a West Indian family. A third, aged 5 years, was also
involved, but as the diagnosis of this case occurred in 1957, it will be
dealt with for statistical purposes in the next year's report. In
spite of exhaustive enquiries made into this small outbreak, and the
investigation of specimens submitted by contacts, the source of infection
remained undisclosed.