London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Twickenham 1958
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Twickenham]
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after the bath had been refilled after cleaning. Due partly to
heavy rain the level of the water was three inches higher than is
normal and the mains water and the chlorinated water from the
plant had probably not been thoroughly mixed.
A series of samples were taken under varying conditions to
find whether there is a period under normal conditions when chlorination
might be insufficient to maintain purity of water. The
results showed that even during the changing period, chlorination
can be sufficient to ensure a proper standard of purity, and every
precaution is taken to maintain this standard.
Laboratory Work.
The usual arrangements continued during the year and worked satisfactorily.
| Type of Sample or Specimen. | No. taken | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Ice cream | 100 | 100 Grade I -Satisfactory |
| Water | 51 | 47 - Satisfactory 4 - Unsatisfactory |
| Faeces | 173 | |
| Fertilisers | 19 |
Bone Meal.
Cases of enteric type of infection have been traced to infected
fertilisers and during the year 19 samples of fertilisers were obtained
from a local factory and from various shops in the borough.
Of the 13 samples of bone meal taken, 5 were negative and 8
contained organisms of the food poisoning group. All the positive
samples were from the Argentine.
Six samples of miscellaneous organic fertilisers such as dried
blood and horn parings were found negative, and it is interesting
to note that a sample of organic fertiliser from the Mogden sewage
Works was also negative.
I have forwarded a summary of these results to the Public
Health Laboratory Service who have been carrying out investigations
on these lines, and it may be that there is a case for the compulsory
sterilisation of imported bone meal before admission to
this country.
Poliovirus Survey In Normal Children
During 1957 the Medical Research Council through the Central
Public Health Laboratory at Colindale carried out a survey in 25
districts in the country in order to get an indication of the proportion
of normal children carrying poliovirus, and to relate the
carrier rate to the number of notified cases. The results were not
conclusive and a further survey in Middlesex over a period of
twelve months was undertaken. All sanitary districts in Middlesex
co-operated and since May 1958, 100 specimens were collected each
week from selected children in the county. It is hoped that as
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