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Puerperal Pyrexia
The total number of cases notified during the year was 21, all
of which occurred at the North Middlesex Hospital Annexe in The
Bishop's Avenue.
Food Poisoning
Seven cases of Food Poisoning were notified during the year.
All were single cases, the agents of four were discovered, but those
for the others remained unidentified.
Dysentery
Nineteen cases of Dysentery were notified during the year, all
of these being affected during an outbreak of Sonne Dysentery at an
Infants' School, which began at the end of May. On the 30th May,
19 children attending a particular Infants' School developed symptoms
and it was necessary to admit 2 of them to hospital. Investigations
failed to reveal that school meals or milk were responsible, but
bacteriological examinations showed the cause of the outbreak to be
this particular type of dysentery bacteria which had been passed from
one child to another. The children affected used a common set of
lavatories, and as recent outbreaks of this disease in other parts of the
country have been found to be caused by poor toilet hygiene, special
instructions were given at the school. It was an interesting coincidence
that the caretaker responsible for cleaning and disinfecting the
toilet seats and fittings had been off work for two weeks before the
epidemic began. With the co-operation of the teachers, strict instructions
were given to the children with regard to toilet hygiene,
especially hand washing, and frequent disinfection of the lavatories
was carried out. A circular was sent to all doctors in the area giving
them information of the type of disease and asking them to co-operate
in certain measures in the homes of children affected to prevent the
spread of infection. Numerous cases continued to occur among
children during June, but by the co-operation of General Practitioners
in the treatment of home cases, and school teachers in hygiene
measures in the school, the number of cases rapidly diminished and
the epidemic ceased at the beginning of July. During the outbreak,
119 suspected cases of Dysentery were investigated, of whom 47 were
found to be suffering from the disease. All of these were carefully
followed up and investigated after treatment to ensure that no children
remained carriers of the disease.
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