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19
Food Poisoning
This year there were only 11 cases of Food Poisoning. The following agent
was identified:—
Salmonella Muenchen 1
In the other 10 cases no specific organism was isolated.
Smallpox
There were no confirmed cases of smallpox in the Borough during the year or
indeed in England. The regulations made as the result of recommendation by the
Public Health Committee of the Council of Europe may have had some effect in
making less likely the importation of smallpox by air passengers.
These regulations which came into operation on 1st August, 1963, recommended
that a valid International Certificate of Vaccination against smallpox should
normally be required by national health administrations from travellers arriving
from local infected areas and from "endemic areas", the latter to be defined as
consisting of Africa, Asia and the Americas (excluding Canada and the United
States of America) also that this general definition of "endemic areas" should
replace the various definitions differing from country to country, which had
previously been employed.
The Airport Medical Officer (or the customs officer or immigration officer on
his behalf) should, as a matter of routine, ask to see the International Certificates
of all travellers (whether in transit or not) arriving directly by air from:—
(a) any place in Asia, Africa or the Americas (excluding Canada and the
U.S.A.).
(b) any smallpox-infected local area wherever it may be.
He should also continue the existing arrangements for issuing warning notices
("yellow cards") to all such travellers.
Travellers defined in (a) and (b) above who do not possess valid International
Certificates or who do not show sufficient evidence of protection by a previous
attack of smallpox should be offered vaccination and, unless they are in transit,
placed under surveillance in accordance with Regulation 31 of the 1952 Regulations.
If travellers defined in (b) above refuse vaccination, then unless they are in transit,
they should be isolated for fourteen days from the date of their departure from
the infected area, or for the length of their stay in this country, whichever is the less.
During the year 11 possible contacts were placed under surveillance including
1 case in category (b). All cases remained free from infection during the ensuing
critical fourteen days.
Tuberculosis
Twelve years ago the principles of modern treatment for tuberculosis were
in their infancy and were applied to a minority of cases only. These methods of
treatment are now well tried and established, forming a major part of the work of
the Hammersmith Chest Clinic. Every patient with active tuberculosis now receives
the benefit of treatment which very rarely fails to control a disease which previously
carried an appalling mortality rate.
However, the number of cases on the register remains fairly constant indicating
that reservoirs of infection still remain. Various theories are advanced in support
of different views. It is considered in some quarters that the main danger is in
the elderly male, living in hostel accommodation, or alone in one or two rooms,
who persistently refuses medical attention. Immigrants are also blamed and
certainly the analysis of British born and other ethnic groups carried out in the
Static Centre of the N.W. Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board Mass