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The Infant Mortality rate for this area is thus 22.1 as compared
with 25.5 the Infant Mortality rate for England and Wales.
REMOVAL OF PERSONS IN NEED OF CARE AND
ATTENTION, Section 47, National Assistance Act, 1948
There were reported 20 cases of old people in need of care and
attention during the year.
In only one case was it found necessary to take action under
Section 47 of the National Assistance Act. The patient was a woman
aged 91 years, who was suffering from grave chronic disease, living
in insanitary conditions and was unable to devote to herself, and was
not receiving from other persons, proper care and attention. She was
removed to Barnes Hospital where she died five weeks later.
Dysentery
In September there was an outbreak of dysentery in Mortlake
County Primary School. The infecting organism was Shigella Sonnei,
which gives rise to a mild form of dysentery. Cases were isolated as
soon as possible and referred to their own doctors for treatment.
Contacts were excluded from school until bacteriological examinations
were proved negative. Altogether there were 73 notified cases in this
epidemic; a big proportion of these were children in the age group
5-7 years.
Two other cases of Sonnei dysentery occurred earlier in the year,
but were not related to this epidemic.
FOOD POISONING
Number of cases notified 5
Number of deaths Nil
Three of these cases occured in a factory canteen, where the cause
was found to be "braised steak", which had been cooked and then
reheated before serving. The infecting organism was Clostridium
Welchii.
One case was a child of 1 year of age, who developed an infection
with Salmonella Typhi-murium, the source of which was not traced.
One case was a man who became ill immediately on his return
from Germany; he travelled by air. The infecting organism was found
to be Salmonella San Diego, and the food suspected of causing it was
thought to be cream, although this was not proved.
FOOD
The general standard of Food Hygiene has been maintained and
in certain cases, mainly where premises have changed hands or new
premises opened, there has been considerable improvement. With
the older premises, however, it is evident that food hygiene is practised