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62
FOOD POISONING.
In June, my attention was called to the death of a resident
of the Borough, who had been attended by a medical
practitioner—the death being certified as ptomaine poisoning.
A post-mortem was ordered and inquest held.
It appeared that the deceased, who was a dairyman (unemployed
for some time), had visited Hampstead Heath on
the Monday prior to his death. On returning home, he
stated that he had been sick several times, although he had
not eaten anything. He remained in bed the next day,
suffering from acute diarrhoea and sickness. A doctor was
called in, but the deceased died about 10 o'clock on the
Wednesday morning.
At the post-mortem, specimens were prepared by Dr. Bronte
and submitted to the Ministry of Health for bacteriological
examination.
The report on the bacteriological examination was as
follows:—
"Bacilli belonging to the aertryck group have been
cultivated from all the tissues (spleen liver and kidney)
and from stomach contents, from the small intestine and
from the cæcum."
Following this report, enquiries were made as to the food
eaten by the deceased. It was found that he had partaken
of food with his family and at his lodgings, but it was
impossible to find out what food he had eaten elsewhere, and
no further official action could be taken in the matter.
An inquest was held, and the verdict of death from food
poisoning was recorded.
PREVALENCE OF, AND CONTROL OVER
INFECTIOUS DISEASES.
Infectious Diseases.—There were, omitting tuberculosis,
745 cases reported as due to notifiable infectious diseases in
the Borough, against 760 in the previous year. The number
of cases of Tuberculosis notified was 265 against 296 in the
previous year. There were also reported 1,633 cases cf
infectious diseases that were not notifiable, against 1,969 in
the previous year; 658 of these were Measles, 573 Whooping
Cough, and 402 Chicken Pox.