Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Stepney]
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VI. PREVALENCE OF & CONTROL OVER INFECTIOUS AND
OTHER DISEASES.
Notifications.
A total of 2,127 notifications of cases of infectious _
disease were received during the year as compared with 2,448
in 1951. Table 13 on page 57 shows details of the notifications
received, together with age groups. The diagnosis was
not confirmed in nine of the above notifications.
A list of the diseases notifiable in the County of. London
is shown in Table 14, p.58.
Diphtheria.
Two notifications were received, but the diagnosis was not
confirmed In either of the cases. The number of children
immunised at L.C.C. clinics was 1,483, of which 1,119 were
. under five years of age. 1,030 children were given a reinforcing
injection.
A supply of anti-toxin is kept in the Department for use by
general practitioners in emergency cases. 119 swabs were
forwarded by general practitioners to Mile End Group Laboratory,
where bacteriological examinations are carried out on behalf
of the Borough Council.
Dysentery.
73 notifications were received during the year as compared
with 222 the previous year. The diagnosis was not confirmed
in two of the notifications.
Food Poisoning.
Fourteen individual cases of suspected food poisoning were
notified. In 8 cases a salmonella organism was isolated from
the patients' stools and in no case was the source of infection
traced to any particular article of food.
In addition to the notified cases mentioned above, information
reached the Department of an outbreak of food poisoning
in an industrial canteen situated in the Borough. On 3rd
January, 1952, a number of employees of a business establishment
suffered from vomiting and diarrhoea after a meal at 1 p.m.
the previous day in the firm's canteen.
Investigation of the canteen was carried out the same day,
and the following information was obtained.
The meal consisted of beef sausages purchased on 1st January
32