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cases the diagnosis proved to be some infection or disease
other than poliomyelitis. One hesitates to comment on these
admissions, A proportion and possibly a high proportion of
these cases would have required hospital admission in any case,
but moving a patient who is in the early stages of a major
attack of poliomyelitis can be fraught with danger. The
question of the advisability of admission to hospital is most
difficult to decide and it is no help to know that if your
decision is right the absence of paralysis in the patient
proves nothing whereas a wrong decision is only too often
shown by the subsequent unfortunate condition of the patient.
Five cases admitted as "Query Diphtheria" were
found to be glandular fever with or without some additional
disease.
One case admitted as "Continued Fever" was finally
diagnosed as acute streptococcal tonsillitis.
Three cases removed as "Query Meningococcal Infection"
were discovered to be acute follicular tonsillitis (2 cases)
and acute respiratory catarrh.
These "query" cases represent a vast amount of work
in the Department. They are all visited by the Public Health
Inspector and are followed up in hospital until final diagnosis
Is reached.
There were two confirmed cases of meningococcal
infection, a male aged 68, and a boy of 7 who unfortunately died.
Two cases of acute infective encephalitis occurred, one
a girl of 7 years, the other aged 20 was a nurse In a local
hospital. There were two cases of post infectious encephalitis,
males aged 6 and 30, and in both cases the encephalitis was
associated with mumps.
One case of typhoid fever was notified. The patient
was a laboratory technologist employed in a hospital and a
week before the onset of the illness had been working on
typhoid culture. Observation was continued during 1956 on a
typhoid carrier who had been notified in November, 1955. 36
specimens were examined, one of which proved positive for
salmonella anatum but it was not possible to establish
precisely the source of this infection. The patient was still
under observation as a typhoid carrier at the end of the year.