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33
a few days only in the hospital. Specimens were taken from discharged
patients who might have been at risk but no infected cases were found.
DIPHTHERIA
1. A Council employee, who lived in another Borough, was reported to be a
contact of a Diphtheria carrier. The man was excluded from work. Nose and
throat swabs of the man and his workmates were taken and his nasal swab
showed diphtheria to be present. All other swabs proved negative and no
other cases developed.
DYSENTERY
34 persons were notified as suffering from dysentery and following investigation
of these a number of carriers of the disease came to light. Frequently one
or more carriers are found amongst a patient's home contacts and those are kept
under surveillance until cleared.
Following reports of diarrhoea occurring in children in a play group associated
with a particular block of flats, a combined investigation by Health visitors
and Public Health Inspectors was carried out. Some 150 families were visited and
where necessary specimens were taken. The play group was discontinued during
this time. Five cases or carriers were discovered and a potentially large outbreak
was successfully contained.
FOOD POISONING etc.
20 cases of food poisoning (notified plus other cases coming to notice
through laboratory examination of specimens), mainly due to Salmonella infection,
were considered to be directly due to infected food, 4 cases of S. Virchow resulting
from a party held at Sunbury-on-Thames and 3 cases of S. Isangi originating in a
holiday camp in Dorchester.
In the remaining cases the source of infection was not established and 15
other cases appeared not to be directly associated with food.
A case of Salmonella Parama occurring in a private nursery required close
surveillance and many frequent specimens before the matter could be closed,
the disease being especially persistent in the patient.
A cook, living in another Borough but employed in Lambeth, had to be
excluded from work for a number of weeks, also due to S. Parama. In this case
the Council were required to pay compensation to the man for loss of earnings,
but as his place of employment was a large establishment with a wide-spread
clientele his exclusion from any form of food handling was essential.