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INFECTIOUS DISEASES
In spite of the increasing concentration of effort in other aspects of public health, infectious disease
control remains one of the most important and receives the closest attention.
The most not able development was the inauguration of a weekly bulletin to general practitioners in
July. Since then, every doctor in Haringey has received a brief, up-to-date account of the latest situation
in infectious disease at breakfast time each Saturday. This has also afforded an opportunity for the
individual general practitioner to pass on information which is published for the benefit of others. The
value of this has been especially evident with regard to infective hepatitis, revealing many more cases
than had previously been suspected. The bulletin has also been useful for announcements of public
health or medical interest. Local doctors have expressed their appreciation of this venture, and I would
like to thank them for their co-operation.
Food Poisoning
All four members of a Haringey family were infected by Salmonella enteritidis while staying at a
seaside holiday camp in July. This type of organism was also responsible for an outbreak of food
poisoning among guests at a wedding reception in another borough in October. Two Haringey residents
were affected. One of them was a food handler who was excluded from work and compensated for loss
of income until clear of the disease.
A local hospital requested the advice of the Health Department on Salmonella typhimurium infection
in two wards. The hospital was visited and recommendations were made regarding organisation and
equipment.
Measles
The incidence of this disease increases sharply in alternate years. 1965 was a "quiet" year.
Measles vaccination has now been approved by the Ministry of Health, and is being carried out by general
practitioners on a limited scale.
Staphylococcal Infection
A woman became seriously ill with a staphylococcal infection while in a local maternity unit. She
was transferred to an infectious diseases hospital where she recovered. Members of the Health Department
staff visited the unit at the request of the medical supervisor, and a number of agreed recommendations
were carried out.
Meningococcal Meningitis
Three sporadic cases occurred in children, the eldest of which was five years old.
Poliomyelitis
The odds against poliomyelitis spreading to Haringey by way of normal travel and contact during the
outbreak in Blackburn during the summer were fairly high, but there was anxiety that they might have been
lowered substantially if thousands of supporters from Tottenham went therefor the Rovers' match in August.
There was considerable relief when the game was cancelled.
No cases of poliomyelitis occurred in Haringey during the year.
Typhoid
A young woman from Italy, employed in a factory outside Haringey, was admitted to Coppetts Wood
Hospital at the Deginning of June, suffering from typhoid fever. She had arrived in this country a month
previously and had been ill for three weeks. Contacts in her home, the neighbourhood and her place of
work were followed up intensively, but no other cases were discovered. Enquiries led to the source of
the disease being located in Italy, and the patient admitted to eating raw mussels from the Bay of Naples
at the time when infection might have been expected to have occurred. She made a satisfactory recovery
in hospital.
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