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had to be taken from all those returning positive results and
liaison was maintained with other authorities to whose districts
contacts of cases had proceeded. A number of cases,
mostly in brothers and sisters of infants, also occurred in
the Junior department of the school which was not, however,
seriously affected.
The closing of the school for the Whitsun holiday was
welcome and during this period the school premises were
thoroughly cleaned.
By the 29th May, 1961, when the school re-opened, 60
of the affected children had been found to be ' negative ' and
were allowed to return to school. Not all the children had
actually suffered from dysentery—many were ' symptomless
excreters ' or ' carriers' only.
All cases of dysentery were relatively mild but the nuisance
value of such an outbreak is extremely high. This type
of Sonne dysentery is widespread in the country as a whole.
In 1956 the notifications in England and Wales numbered
49,009 and in 1959 the number was 35,626. As I have said,
hand carriage of infection, rather than food, is the main
factor in transmission. Only detailed attention to personal
cleanliness and, above all, the washing of hands after attendance
at the toilet, combined with adequate sanitary provision
in homes, schools and similar institutions will break the cycle
of infection and reduce the incidence.
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