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Two groups of Islington contacts of typhoid and paratyphoid fever cases not in
the area were also followed up during the year as follows:-
(a) Information was received from the Medical Officer of Health. Camden,
of a meals supervisor at a school in that area who had been found to be a
typhoid carrier. Of the contacts, there were reported thirty one schoolchildren
and sixteen kitchen and other staff residing in Islington.
(b) Two suspected cases of paratyphoid fever occurred amongst a holiday
party who were in Majorca from the 25th September to the 9th October. Two
Islington residents also travelled in this party, and were therefore
possible contacts.
Domiciliary enquiries were made in all the above, and bacteriological
examinations of family and other contacts all proved negative.
Their medical practitioners were informed.
Dysentery
There were four hundred and seventy-one cases notified and 'coming to knowledge'
during the year. Of these, three hundred and sixty-one proved positive, whilst one
hundred and ten were clinical cases with negative stools. The source of infection was
not determined in the greater proportion of these cases.
Roughly one-third of the positive cases occurred in minor outbreaks at four
schools and one day nursery in the borough.
Outbreak of Query Epidemic vomiting
On 12th September, a school in the borough was visited following a report from
the school meals organiser of a number of cases of diarrhoea and vomiting.
Originally, eight teaching staff, an education helper, and two kitchen staff
were reported to have symptoms which included diarrhoea, vomiting, nausea and faintness.
The symptoms which occurred from Friday evening 9th September to Sunday 11th
September, 1966 were reported as following the Friday lunch which included fish
fingers.
The kitchen was inspected, and it was confirmed that the lunch included fish
fingers, cottage pie, tomatoes, cabbage, chips, apple pie and custard.
The method of cooking the fish fingers was to place them in greased tins and
heat in a hot oven for not less than thirty minutes. All the kitchen staff except the
two that reported symptoms, had corned beef, whilst all the teaching staff except one
had fish fingers. Of the 450 children (approx) who had the school meal, all but 72
had the fish fingers.
Further enquiry revealed that the secretary of the Infant School also had
symptoms on the Friday night, but she had not consumed the fish fingers.
Only examination of the fish fingers was possible as no sample meal had been
retained. These showed no abnormality. Faecal specimens from the affected persons
isolated no pathogenic organisms. The report of the examination of the water by the
Metropolitan Water Board was normal, whilst the general condition of the school and
kitchen was satisfactory.
A complete list of absentees from the school during the relevant period was
obtained, and as a result of domiciliary enquiries, twelve school children were
reported as having suffered similar symptoms to the staff, with a family spread in
four cases. There were no complications and all patients made a complete recovery.
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