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The above occurrences took place in spite of the fact that good kitchen
hygiene and a good standard of kitchen practice were present.
Other food poisoning cases were either isolated ones or small family outbreaks
During the year the Ministry of Health issued a revision of Memo 188/Med
dealing with food poisoning. The Memorandum mentioned that the reported instances
of food poisoning in the country showed no signs of decreasing and there were
6, 898 outbreaks, including family outbreaks between 1950 and 1956; in a large
proportion of these outbreaks neither the causal food was named, nor the responsible
organism identified
Thorough investigation at an early stage is necessary if the most complete
information is to be obtained, but this necessitates early notification by the
practitioner, or early information from others being passed to the Public Health
Department. If there is delay before information is received by the Medical
Officer of Health, investigation is made much more difficult, and it may even be
impossible to make complete investigation if the suspected foods have been disposed
of.
The Revised Memorandum deals with the investigation of notified cases, the
collection of data on food poisoning, and includes amended report forms for returns
to the Ministry of Health; it also outlines lines of enquiry into food poisoning
outbreaks The field of laboratory investigations is dealt with in some detail,
and the Memorandum- should assist in the central collation of information on a more
precise basis.
Typhoid and Parataphoid Fever.
A four months old baby was admitted to hospital with a fever Bacteriological
investigations were carried out and salmonellae typhi were found. Investigations by
the Department into household contacts showed that the mother herself was also a
carrier, and treatment was arranged through her own medical practitioner.
A woman engaged as a pie-maker at an establishment in the Borough suffered an
attack of enteritis; as a result of stool examinations she was found, to be suffering
from infection with salmonella typhi B She accepted the advice of the Department
and agreed to change her occupation to one where she was not called upon to handle
food.
Dysentery
1958 was a year of relatively high dysentery incidence in the Borough as will
be seen from the table The majority of the cases were in the first half of the
year and approximately 40 per cent were under five years of age Although dysentery
or infection with Shigella Sonnei does not normally give rise to severe illness it
is still desirable that hygienic precautions be taken in connection with persons
and families- Enquiries are made in all instances where information of
cases is received in relation to employment in food handling occupations. It will
be noted from the table that 27 cases were actually employed as food handlers, and
over 160 were food handler contacts Appropriate personal advice was given in every
case.