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56
ENTERIC FEVER
There were only two cases of enteric fever in this district in 1949.
The first was an adult male of 47 who succumbed in January from an
attack of paratyphoid fever, the organism being para A. Paratyphoid
fever is now more common in this country than typhoid fever. Of the
organisms causing this infection the para B is the commonest, para A
being rare. Where this patient picked up his infection could not be
ascertained. He is a foreigner who might possibly then have contracted
the infection outside this country. The organism was not found in the
other members of the household. The patient had many of his meals
away from home. The other case was an adult male of 37 who fell ill
in December suffering from para B infection. The origin of the infection
could not be discovered.
DYSENTERY
Thirteen cases of dysentery were notified during the year. The
diagnosis was amended in two, leaving the number of notified cases as 11.
In all instances where the causative organism was isolated it proved, to
be Sh. Sonnei. Apart from three occurring in one house, all children,
the cases were unrelated to one another. The first half of the year was
free, the cases being spread over the six months, May to November.
Most of the patients were treated at home, and all apparently made a
complete recovery from a relatively mild illness.
FOOD POISONING
Four persons were notified during the year as suffering from food
poisoning, two occurring in the one household. The S. typhi-murium
was isolated in two instances. The source of infection was suspected of
being a duck's egg in one case.
ERYSIPELAS
Thirty patients were notified as suffering from erysipelas ; in four,
however, the diagnosis was amended. Females again outnumbered males
by nearly two to one. In only three cases was the affected site other than
the face. One half of the patients were admitted to hospital, mostly to
isolation hospitals. One case, a lady of 81 suffering from a lesion of the
face, proved fatal.
The cases were distributed throughout the whole year, though the
incidence was lightest from March to October, only 13 cases occurring in
these eight months as contrasted with 14 cases in the remaining four
months.
CEREBRO SPINAL FEVER
One child was notified as suffering from cerebro spinal fever, a
girl of four months who died in a few hours from this infection in March.
In January a child died from the infection ; the case had not been notified
as the diagnosis of the case was made only as the result of a post mortem
examination.