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64
diagnosis of food poisoning was made, Salmonella Typhimurium was
recovered from the stools. Enquiries at the house in this district which
they had visited showed that all six persons who shared a meal at this
house on the 27th December fell ill at the same time with the same
symptoms as these two who had been admitted to hospital. Three of a
family of six fell ill simultaneously; each of them, but not one of the other
three members of the family not infected, had eaten savoury biscuits.
One man notified as suffering from food poisoning had eaten mouldy
decomposing potted meat.
In a number of cases the affected person was an adult who had some
of his meals out. In these cases, as no other members of the family
were infected, the presumption is that the infection was the result of consumption
of food not shared by the others in the household. One of the
notified cases was an air hostess who fell ill while abroad. Two other
notifications were in respect of local residents who had their meals at a
works canteen outside the district where many of those who partook of that
meal suffered similarly. Some other cases had apparently contracted
their illness while out of the district on holiday.
All the members of one family except the baby fell ill a few hours
after they all, except the baby, had eaten a meal which included turkey.
Laboratory examination showed the infection to be a coagulase positive
staphylococcus. A similar organism caused all the members of one
family to fall ill simultaneously.
The organisms responsible for five family outbreaks were identified
as the staphylococcus in three (causing 7, 4 and 2 cases), Salmonella
Typhimurium in two, with 3 and 2 cases. Out of the 12 individual
cases in which the organism was recovered, all were Salmonellae, being
Typhimurium in 8 and Newport in 2. About this organism which is
responsible for so many cases of food poisoning the Chief Medical
Officer of the Ministry of Health in his report for 1955 said—" The
common sources of Salmonella Typhimurium infection still remain to be
discovered and until they are found and controlled, infection with
Salmonellae are likely to continue at a high level."
ERYSIPELAS
This disease although now of very little public health significance
is still notifiable.
The last year was again one of light incidence, there being only
16 cases, six being of males. In all but three of the patients, the face
was the affected site. Eleven of the cases occurred in the first five months
of the year.
Six of the patients were admitted to hospital. None of the cases
was fatal.
MENINGOCOCCAL INFECTION
Four persons were notified in this last year to be suffering from
meningococcal infection, a girl of five and a boy of thirteen both suffering
from meningitis in March, a woman of 23 suffering from septicaemia in
May and another woman of 50 suffering from meningitis in Decern
All cases made a complete recovery.