View report page

INFECTIOUS DISEASES
The department maintained a close watch on infectious diseases in the borough.
The weekly bulletin produced for general practitioners continued to serve a useful function, especially
where the voluntary notification of infective hepatitis was concerned. More use could be made of the
bulletin's capacity to disseminate local information on the commoner diseases - influenza, mumps,
chicken pox and soon - which are not serious enough to require formal notification, but which yet involve
a good deal of day to day work. A step was taken in this direction when discussions were opened with
the Education Department regarding the modification of infectious disease returns from schools, so that
head teachers and general practitioners could be kept informed of the latest trends at weekly intervals.
Food Poisoning
The Salmonella group is the commonest cause of this kind of infection. One of these - Salmonella
typhimurium - was the cause of a number of troublesome outbreaks in several London hospitals. The
Medical Officer of Health was asked to advise on this problem in one in Haringey Sporadic cases also
occurred in the borough. Some cases occurred in an old people's home. In another incident a food-handler
was excluded from work until clear of the disease. There was a tragic reminder of the sinister
potentialities of the organism when a sixteen-month-old child died from this cause.
Salmonella derby was responsible for two cases in a family.
Foreign travel addedtothe variety of organisms encountered. There was an exceptionally persistent
Salmonella muenchen from the Canary Islands, and a Salmonella taksony from Tunisia. A visitor to
Guyana returned with a Salmonella litchfield.
The tourist visiting warmer countries would be well advised to choose his diet carefully. Salads
and cold dishes should be avoided, and fruit should be restricted to the sorts that can be peeled before
eating. If uncertain about the safety of the water supplies, one can drink other kinds of fluids. Wine is
best taken only in the evenings because of its soporific effect, but the spa waters available cheaply on
the continent provide excellent substitutes. There is much to be said in favour of taking regularly one
of the preparations intended to prevent gastro-intestinal infections.
Meningococcal Meningitis
Occasional sporadic cases of this infection are the normal pattern for this disease. It does not
tend to be a serious problem nowadays - there were three cases this year as in the last- but it is sad to
have to report that one of them, an eight-months-old child, died from a fulminating form of the infection.
The source was not known, and no reason could be found for the unusually grave sequence of events in
this case.
Measles
Every alternate year there is an increase in the number of cases of measles. This was one of them.
2,130 were notified to the department, compared with 1,876 in 1965.
The Ministry of Health has not yet recommended the widespread use of measles vaccine, though
it is being given by general practitioners on a small scale.
Poliomyelitis
Haringey's freedom from poliomyelitis in 1965 was not repeated in 1966. Two cases occurred, but
it would be only fair to say that one of these did not really belong to the borough. This was a seven
month-old child who was already suffering from the disease when put on a London-bound plane in Qatar.
The diagnosis was made on arrival at the airport, and the child was immediately transferred to Coppett's
Wood Hospital in Haringey. For purposes of notification the case was considered to be a resident of this
borough. The hospital accepts patients suffering from infectious diseases from a wide area of north-east
London, and isolates them so effectively that although it is in Haringey, for practical purposes it is not
of it.
8