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86 Report of the Medical Officer of Health.
Of the 50 cases notified eight were not Enteric Fever, three
occurred in H.M. Prison, and two in the Middlesex County Asylum,
leaving 37 cases in which special enquiries were made as to the
probable cause of the disease.
In 14 of the cases the disease was probably contracted by
eating shell-fish, in four it was c >ntracted abroad, in two the infection
was contracted from previous cases, in five probably from watercress,
in one from polluted water while on service, while in 11 no
history of infection could be ascertained.
With regard to the 14 cases caused by shell-fish, five were
from oysters, three from winkles, four from cockles, and two from
mussels.
Of the total number of cases infected in all probability by
eating shell-fish, two died.
In the cases contracted abroad, four in number, it was impossible
to ascertain the exact source of infection.
Of the eight cases which were not Enteric Fever three were
fatal, one from General Tuberculosis, one from Acute Cerebral
Meningitis, and one from Pulmonary Tuberculosis.
The notification rate and the death-rate from this disease
were the lowest on record.
Cases of Mistaken Diagnosis.
In 1x3 cases, (43 of Scarlet Fever, 54 of Diphtheria, eight of
Enteric Fever, six of Cerebro-spinal Fever, one of Continued Fever,
and one of Puerperal Fever), information was received from the
Metropolitan Asylums Board's and other hospitals, that the patients
were not suffering from the disease notified or any other notifiable
disease, compared with 88 in 1912, 102 in 1911, and 107 in 1910.