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was shigella sonne. Exclusion arrangements instituted last year
were continued, children being kept away from school for at least
7 days and not allowed to return until they had been free from
diarrhoea and sickness for 3 days. Absence from school has been
considerably reduced, apparently with no loss of control over the
spread of infection.
Two outbreaks occurred in a day nursery. On the first
occasion 7 babies being affected, two of whom were admitted to hospital.
The second outbreak involved 18 babies, one being admitted to hospital,
and one member of the staff. On each occasion infection cleared
up without incident.
Paratyphoid A resident of Hornsey, a man of 61 years, was
admitted to hospital in July with a history of having had
severe diarrhoea for five days and having had aneuria since the onset
of diarrhoea. He was severely dehydrated and his blood pressure
was too low to be recorded. His condition on admission was said
to be colitis. He died less than 24 hours later. It was thought
at first that he had died from food poisoning caused by an organism
of the salmonella group, but later it was found to be an untypable
paratyphoid B infection, an organism which was new to this country.
The matter was reported to the Ministry of Health, who made enquiries
regarding this and other salmonella cases which had been reported.
No common source or vehicle of infection was found and no connection
could be traced with other cases. This case was not notified.
The only notification related to a boy of 3 years who probably
contracted the disease on holiday; he made an uneventful recovery.
Diphtheria No notifications of diphtheria were received during the
year. During the last decade 3 cases occurred, one
of which proved fatal. It is interesting to compare 10-year periods
this century and from the table following these comments it would be
seen that Hornsey has yet to have a decade completely free from
diphtheria deaths. Perhaps this state of affairs will be achieved
during the 1960's. One thing is certain, that to achieve this it
will be necessary to keep up the proportion of children in the Borough
being immunised against diphtheria. Fortunately, the acceptance rate
for this last year or two shows some increase. It is not possible
to relax after a job well done if the community is to be kept free
from diphtheria. The very success of the immunisation campaign
tends to give a false sense of security, but it should not be forgotten
that diphtheria is a dangerous fatal disease. The immunisation process,
which is simple and almost painless, is an effective protection.
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