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To the Chairman and Members of the Chigwell Urban
District Council.
THE CHAIRMAN, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,
I have pleasure in presenting the Annual Report of the
Medical Officer of Health for the year 1958, which includes the
report of the Chief Public Health Inspector.
A duplicated form of the report has been adopted instead
of the customary printed booklet. Although this is less attractive
and convenient, it has eliminated the long delays which have been
associated with printing and is, incidentally, less expensive to
produce. Subject to the approval of the Council, I propose to
continue to use the present form of report in the future.
VITAL STATISTICS.
The birth-rate and death rate were practically unchanged,
remaining below the national averages in each case. Diseases
of the heart and circulation and cancer were the main causes of
death. There was a welcome fall in the number of deaths from
cancer of the lung and bronchus, and in the number of infant deaths.
INFECTIOUS DISEASE.
There was a sharp outbreak of dysentery (sonne type) at a
County Primary School in Loughton during the early part of the
summer. The suspected source of the infection was a meat pie served
the day before the outbreak commenced, and this was confirmed by
subsequent bacteriological examination of the remnants. The pie
had been cooked on the day consumed, but contained meat which had
been delivered to the school four days previously (on a Friday)
and pre-cooked on the Monday-i.e., the day before the pie was
baked and eaten. Ten children were absent with sickness and diarrhoea
on the day following the meal and a further thirty-six on the next day.
At this stage, specimens were obtained from the kitchen staff (twelve
including part-timers), and routine disinfection of toilet seats,
handles, knobs and taps at the school was commenced. Four of the
above specimens proved positive to S. Sonnei, and the canteen was
then closed. All local doctors were alerted, and advised concerning
treatment, as the organism was found to be insensitive to the usual
sulphonamide group. By courtesy of the manufacturers, supplies of
Streptotriad tablets were made available at the Public Health
Department and were issued to patients on request of a doctor.
Absenteeism continued to be at a high rate during the next two or
three weeks; a 11 the homes involved (276) were visited by a school
nurse or public health inspector, and specimens (674) were obtained
from the child and contacts, whenever gastro-intestinal symptoms were
reported. Although the majority of cases occurred during the first
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