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9
SECTION 'F' — PREVALENCE OF, AND CONTROL OVER,
INFECTIOUS AND OTHER DISEASES
Measles.
There was the expected epidemic of measles which was widespread
throughout the country. Of the 433 cases notified eight
occurred in infants under the age of 1 year and 3 were sufficiently
severe to warrant removal to hospital.
Generally the disease was of moderate severity and there were
no deaths.
Whooping Cough.
Only two cases were notified, and these were not severe enough
to require admission to hospital. The majority of infants are immunnised
against this disease and this is helping substantially to reduce
the incidence and mortality rate.
Poliomyelitis.
In June a 4-year old boy was removed to hospital suspected to be
suffering from non-paralytic poliomyelitis.
He had received two doses of vaccine during the previous year.
The diagnosis was not confirmed by culture and the child made
an. uninterrupted recovery. This may have been a true case in which
paralysis was prevented by vaccination, or, alternatively, the diagnosis
may have been incorrect.
By 1959 a high proportion of children living in the borough had
received protective inoculation, and it is possible that this has contributed
to the low incidence.
Dysentery.
Five cases of dysentery were notified. These were isolated cases
and in four instances the causal organism was not isolated. In the
fifth the organism was found to be Shigella Sonnei.
Food Poisoning.
An outbreak of food poisoning occurred amongst employees of
an engineering firm, all of whom had taken a meal at a certain cafe.
Symptoms of food poisoning occurred about 12 hours after consuming
a meal which, in every case, included chicken.
Six persons reported sick and others had very mild symptoms.
All made rapid recoveries. Bacteriological investigation of the patients
and food handlers proved negative, and there were no food remmants
available for examination. Enquiries revealed that an undrawn
chicken was delivered to the cafe on the Friday. It was cooked on
the Sunday and served after re-heating on the Monday.