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3. FOOD POISONING. Fifteen cases of food poisoning
were notified during the period under review and it seems pertinent
to remark that this malady appears to be increasing in recent
years, perhaps on account of communal feeding and possibly due
to shortages of foods which are retained to form the basis of
meals when perhaps it would be more prudent to discard them.
Intimate association with the Central Public Health Laboratory
at Colindale has been retained, resulting in the discovery of
the mode of infection in several cases. An instance of an outbreak
may be quoted which demonstrates clearly that such an
occurrence may happen even if precautions are taken which would
appear on the surface to be quite adequate and the outbreak also
demonstrates that many cases of a minor character may occur
without notification ever reaching the Health Department.
The particular outbreak to be described occurred in one of
the County Schools, where kitchen arrangements and facilities are
perhaps better than the general average. On the 15th September
a meal of stewed steak was served at midday in the school and
during that evening and the succeeding night, of the 333 consumers
at risk tfo fewer than 316 had suffered from diarrhoea and
vomiting in varying degrees of severity. The majority had recovered
sufficiently by the next morning to return to school and,
on hearing of the outbreak from the Headmaster, immediate steps
were taken to avoid any action in the kitchen or in the school
dining room which might result in the consumption of any further
infected material. On investigation it was found that the most
likely source of the outbreak was from the stewed steak which
had been cooked on the day preceding the 15th and left over
night to cool from about 3 p.m. until the next morning. On the
day of the outbreak this dish was warmed through and served
and it is more than likely to have been the responsible food
substance. It cannot be too strongly urged that any foodstuff
which is capable of supporting bacterial growth should be cooked
and eaten on the same day to avoid very serious risk.
Other minor incidental infections were investigated but the
one enumerated appears to be worthy of record in this report.
As required by Ministry of Health Circular 2/50 I include in the
statistical appendix a tabulated report of the outbreaks of food
poisoning occurring during the year.
4. A circumscribed outbreak of acute Poliomyelitis occurred
in the Borough during the year, when 11 cases in all were notified,
Seven were non-paralytic and only two cases required prolonged
hospital treatment.
5. The supervision of contacts landing from ship or aeroplane
called for routine surveillance of 11 persons regarding smallpox
and 6 persons regarding typhoid fever. Constant vigilance must
be given to persons arriving from infected foreign areas and this
supervision must be given with discretion and understanding.
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