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93
NOTIFICATION OF FOOD POISONING
Under the provisions of Section 17 of the Food and Drugs Act,
1938, every registered medical practitioner attending on any person
shall, if he suspects or becomes aware that any person is suffering
from food poisoning, forthwith notify such case to the Medical Officer
of Health.
There were 9 confirmed notifications received during the year
compared with 10 in 1952, 4 in 1951 and 12 in 1950.
In 3 instances the specific agent was identified ; 2 proved to
be Salmonella typhimurium and 1 Staphylococcus Aureus. In the
remaining cases samples of suspected food were unobtainable and
it was therefore impossible to ascertain the cause.
The following is a short summary of the three ' typed ' cases,
all of which occurred outside the Borough :—
(1) Salmonella typhimurium—a serviceman became infected
while in attendance at the Royal Tournament at Earl's
Court. Treatment was carried out at the Royal Herbert
Hospital.
(2) Salmonella typhimurium— a woman became ill after partaking
of tea and ham sandwiches at a funeral in the
Bermondsey area. Park Hospital informed this department
that, on discharge, the case was a persistent carrier.
Further treatment at home rendered her negative.
(3) Staphylococcus Aureus—patient admitted to Acton Hospital
after being infected at wedding in that area. Suspected
food was tongue.
A complete recovery was made by all patients.