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contact. Typically it is now a complaint of the winter months and has
its heaviest incidence amongst pupils at primary schools.
FOOD POISONING
Just as is the case with dysentery, the numbers of notifications of this
complaint probably give no true indication of its incidence. Reports
about the position in the country as a whole which show the frequency
of trouble in schools, hospitals and works canteens suggest that the
greater number of incidents at these establishments is partly due to outbreaks
there being reported more than similar occurrences at restaurants
and cooked-food shops. Enquiries about a notified case reveal that other
members of the household have had similar symptoms but have not been
notified. On the other hand, many notifications are received of isolated
cases in which it remains uncertain what the origin of the trouble was.
In many of these cases the sufferer had had meals out, and if the trouble
was the result of consuming infected food it is presumed that it must have
been some foodstuff consumed only by himself and not by the members
of his family who remained unaffected. In some of these cases it seemed
probable that the reaction was a personal idiosyncrasy to some foodstuff
which although consumed by others did not upset them. In only a few
of the cases were bacteriological examinations carried out. Where they
had been and where organisms had been found, they were mostly
Salmonella typhimurium.
Of the 65 notifications received, 24 related to persons who were the
only members of the household attacked, six related to persons who were
the only ones notified but where there were others in the household who
had had similar symptoms but were not notified, 35 related to persons
in 14 households where others in the household were attacked and notified.
One of the cases in which it was felt that the infection had been contracted
outside the district was that of a child who fell ill the same evening as she
returned from holiday; another, a service man, was ill within a very short
time of arriving home on leave. In two households which were affected,
the remaining members of the family succumbed some days after the onset
of the illness amongst those who had had meals at works canteens; in
one of these cases, illness amongst others at the works was reported.
Another instance was that of a husband and wife who both suffered some
hours after they had had a meal out. Another adult fell ill shortly after
having had a meal from a mobile snack bar.
The foodstuffs suspected varied. An adult lady suspected lamb's
liver because, although she was the only one of the family who was ill,
her dogs who ate it were also ill. In another family of four, the three
who had luncheon meat succumbed but the fourth who did not eat it
escaped. A mother and child who both had cream buns became ill, while
the father who did not, escaped. Two members of a family of six who
were the only ones to eat over-ripe tomatoes were ill, while the others
remained well. A husband and wife fell ill at the same time after a cheese
dish; another couple after a meal containing salami.
Of the 17 cases where more than one member of the family was
affected, onsets were simultaneous in only seven cases. This points to