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PREVALENCE AND CONTROL OF INFECTIOUS AND
OTHER DISEASES
Diphtheria
This is the eighteenth consecutive year there were no cases of diphtheria in
Finchley.
Dysentery
Fifteen cases of dysentery were notified and a further 26 cases otherwise
ascertained. The causative organisms found were :—
40 shigella sonnei.
1 shigella flexner.
Of these, 7 were sporadic cases, the remainder being individual family outbreaks.
Encephalitis
Seventeen cases of benign myalgic encephalomyelitis or Royal Free Disease were
notified by a general practitioner in October. The diagnosis was confirmed by Dr.
A. Melvin Ramsay, consultant physician at the Royal Free Hospital, who dealt with
the outbreak at the hospital in 1955. A virological study is being undertaken at the
Public Health Laboratory at Colindale at the time of writing. All general practitioners
were circularised in November to discover if other cases were being missed in the area,
but to date no other cases have been reported. The true aetiology and nature of the
disease is unknown.
Food Poisoning
Eleven persons were notified as suffering from food poisoning during the year
and in addition 33 cases were otherwise ascertained. The causative organisms identified
were as follows :—
Salmonella brandenburg 2
Salmonella Chester 11
Salmonella enteriditis 1
Salmonella heidelberg 2
Salmonella typhimurium 12
cl. Welchii 1
Not identified 21
Staphylococci 2
There were three food poisoning outbreaks. The first affected a party of four,
two members of which were resident in a neighbouring district. Prior to the onset of
the symptoms the party ate a meal prepared for them in a restaurant in Finchley.
Prawns forming part of the meal were found to contain coagulase positive staphylococci.
The organism was, in fact, found to be present in sealed containers imported
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