London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London

Greenwich 1960

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Greenwich Borough.

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121
NOTIFICATION OF FOOD POISONING
Under the provisions of Section 26 of the Food and Drugs Act,
1955, 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 43 notifications received one of which was subsequently
diagnosed as dysentery giving a final total of 42 for the
year. There were 43 cases in the previous year, 39 for 1958, 17
for 1957, 23 for 1956, 14 for 1955, 12 for 1954 and 9 for 1953.

Table: All cases, which were of the sporadic type, were investigated with the following results:—

All cases, which were of the sporadic type, were investigated with the following results:—

No. of CasesOrganism (if known)No. of Hospital CasesRemarks
7Salmonella typhimurium2In all cases no particular food was suspected. Three cases occurred in one family.
35Unknown1In the one hospital case "tinned peas" were suspected but could not be verified. In 26 cases no particular food was suspected.The following foods were suspected but could not be verified:— Chicken, Vienna Steak, Liver, Pork, Stuffing and Crab in three cases.
423