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HEALTH SERVICES IN THE AREA INCLUDING CONTROL
OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Food Poisoning.
In the summer of 1963, food poisoning engaged our attention
to a greater extent than it does normally, owing to the occurrence
of 2 incidents in swift succession. The first arose from cold
cooked ham which was contaminated with staphylococcus aureus, a
germ which is often found on the skin. This germ produces a
toxin which causes an illness characterised by violent abdominal
pain, acute vomiting and diarrhoea often accompanied by prostration.
Fortunately the victims usually recover in about 24 hours.
In this instance only 7 people are known to have suffered, but
investigation of the ham itself and of others from the same
supplier showed that at least 8 were heavily contaminated and a
potential source of unpleasant illness.
The second incident occurred in Austria, but was proved to
have arisen from food prepared by and consumed aboard a plane
operated by an airline in this district. The food concerned
was cold chicken and ham and the bacterial agent once again was
staphylococcus aureus.
As a result of this occurrence and with help from Dr. Betty
Kobbs, at the Public Health Laboratory, Colindale, a detailed
investigation was made of the methods used by various airline
caterers for the preparation and storage of meals for consumption
aboard aircraft. The problems involved are unique to the industry
and an outline of then will be found in the report of
the Chief Public Health Inspector on pages 37 to 40.
Immunisation and Vaccination.
I am indebted to the Area Medical Officer for the figures
on pages 11 and 13 which show the number of children and others
vaccinated and immunised during 1962. The use of combined
diphtheria/whooping cough/tetanus antigens continues to increase
and the number of people newly immunised against tetanus is more
than double that for the previous year.
In spite of the introduction of oral poliomyelitis vaccine
the number of primary vaccinations was much lower than in 1961.
in fact the figure (1,500) compares with the number of births
in the district in 1961 (1,215) and it is likely that future
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