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28
Scarlet Fever.
The incidence of Scarlet Fever was much the same as in
1936. The disease was of the mild type now prevalent and
there were no deaths.
The home nursing of scarlet fever is encouraged whenever
circumstances are favourable.
Infantile Paralysis.
Three cases of anterior poliomyelitis, or infantile paralysis,
were notified in July and September. Two boys, both aged 11
years, in the same school but different classes, developed the
disease within a few days of one another and were removed to
hospital. No further cases occurred.
Typhoid Fever.
Eleven cases of paratyphoid B and one of typhoid fever
were notified during the year, nine of them in the first quarter.
At about this time cases were occurring sporadically all over the
extra metropolitan part of Essex and the Chingford cases thus
formed part of a large outbreak.
There was one secondary case, that of a child in whom the
onset of the disease occurred 16 days after the removal of her
brother to hospital. With this exception, however, careful
investigation failed to bring to light a definite source of
infection in any of the cases.
Water. The Metropolitan Water Board supplies all houses
in Chingford from their reservoir in the Lea Valley and this
water is chlorinated before delivery. Examination by the
Board's Medical Officer of samples from the service pipes in
some of the infected houses gave no evidence of pollution.
Milk, bread and watercress were investigated, but no article
of food was definitely incriminated, although shellfish (winkles)
were a possible source of infection in one instance.
Agglutination tests and bacteriological examinations were
carried out in a large number of contacts and suspects but no
evidence of carriers or missed cases was forthcoming.