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Pneumonia
Only two forms of pneumonia, namely, acute primary and
influenzal, are notifiable. Thirty-five such cases were reported to me
during the year.
In the table of deaths, all forms of pneumonia are included in
the classification (No. 23). It will be seen that 53 deaths occurred
and of these 46 were persons of 65 years of age and over.
Puerperal Pyrexia
The total number of cases notified during the year was 29, all
of which occurred at the North Middlesex Hospital Annexe in The
Bishop's Avenue.
Food Poisoning
Three persons were notified as suffering from food poisoning
during the year. Two of them were members of one family.
Salmonella typhi-murium was discovered to be the agent in each case,
but the source of infection could not be established.
Infective Hepatitis
An outbreak of infective hepatitis occurred amongst pupils
attending a private school in the Borough. Infective hepatitis is a
virus disease causing liver damage together with jaundice. A total of
13 cases was confirmed but there were no deaths, although one case
was admitted to hospital. This disease is not notifiable and the
total of 13 cases may not represent the whole picture of the outbreak.
The outbreak was brought to my attention by the Head Teacher
of the school on the 15th November, 1958, by which time, 6 cases
were known, the first having occurred late in September. Investigations
showed that the school was overcrowded and lacked adequate
sanitary facilities, wash basins, water closets, etc. These defects were
pointed out to the Head Teacher who was requested to have additional
facilities installed, but agreement could not be reached on the
number of fixtures. In the meantime, the Ministry of Education
was notified of the outbreak together with my observations that the
spread of the disease was being facilitated by overcrowding, etc. This
resulted in a very thorough inspection of the school by senior medical
and lay officers of the Ministry in company with the Chief Public
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