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Total Female Examinees 21,114
Total Female cases of Active T.B. 53
Ratio per 1,000 Active T.B. 2.51
A large number of other diseases of the heart and blood vessels, lung and diaphragm, were
disclosed by the examinations.
It is a very great convenience to have a Mass Radiography Unit so readily accessible and full use
is made of it; indeed the demand for examinations taxes the resources of the Unit to the utmost.
The Medical Director and the Organising Secretary have co-operated closely with my Department,
and have been most helpful, particularly when cases of pulmonary tuberculosis amongst City workers
have been notified and it has been desirable to examine other persons who have worked in close
contact with them.
Food Inspection.
The total amount of meat delivered at Smithfield Market was 300,244 tons. Two hundred and
sixty five tons were found by the inspectors to be unfit for human consumption and werevoluntarily
surrendered. In cold stores 16 tons of meat, and in Leadenhall Market and City shops 14 tons of
foodstuffs were condemned.
A great variety of foodstuffs is delivered at riverside wharves in the City, and 329 tons were
found to be unfit for human consumption.
Whenever foodstuffs which are unfit for human consumption can be used for other purposes,
such as feeding stuffs for animals, the manufacture of fertilisers, or the extraction of fat for industrial
purposes, they are so disposed of, subject to proper safeguards, but 158 tons were useless and were
destroyed by the Cleansing Department.
Food Poisoning.
Only two cases of Food Poisoning were notified amongst residents in the City, but in addition
two outbreaks in canteens where non-residents were involved, were investigated.
Both the notified cases were isolated cases, both died in St. Bartholomew's Hospital and both
were the subject of a Coroner's inquest. The first actually died on December 7th, 1951, but was not
notified by the hospital till 2nd January, 1952, though I was informed of the death and the suspected
cause immediately by the Mortuary Superintendent. The Coroner found that death was due to
acute Gastro-enteritis of food poisoning type. I have already reported this case in detail to the Public
Health Committee and to the Ministry of Health. If it was a case of food poisoning it could, so far as
I could ascertain, only be due to the consumption of canned salmon. The few scraps of fish remaining
in the particular can and samples from similar cans were found to be bacteriologically sterile and
chemically free from significant metallic contamination. Over 9,000 cans of the same consignment
had been distributed and no reports of any illness amongst other consumers had been reported.
In my experience, food poisoning from canned salmon is uncommon, and in this case the can
was from a first class pack.
The cause of the acute Gastro-enteritis remains a mystery, but may have been individual idiosyncrasy.
The second notified case was indisputably one of bacterial food-poisoning. The patient suffered
from severe and persistent diarrhoea, and after some 60 hours was transferred to St. Bartholomew's
Hospital. Eight hours later he died. Bacteriological examination of faeces revealed an infection with
Salmonella montevideo, and the finding at the Coroner's inquest was " death from misadventure due
to enteritis caused by Salmonella montevideo." Again I received the first intimation of the case from
the Mortuary Superintendent, and consequently it was impossible to ascertain what the deceased
had eaten at the significant time, and careful enquiry at the restaurant where he normally took his
meals did not reveal anything suspicious. There had been no other complaints, no illness amongst
the staff, and the hygienic conditions were satisfactory. The deceased had suffered from duodenal
ulcer, and in 1951 had undergone the operation of partial gastrectomy. It seems possible that he had
lost the degree of protection that the acidity of the stomach contents affords, and that he may have
fallen a victim to a mild infection which would produce no symptoms in a normal healthy person.
Of the two outbreaks of food-poisoning, one was in a school canteen and the other in a commercial
canteen ; both were mild in type.
In the school canteen, the meal was delivered from a central kitchen and was consumed within
an hour or so. No other school was affected though many received a similar meal. It seems probable
that the outbreak may have been due to one of the containers, probably that in which custard was
delivered, not having been adequately cleansed after a previous use, because the infants who were