View report page

Vaccination and Immunisation (see page 32).
Dysentery.
All four cases notified were of bacillary dysentery. It was not necessary to exclude
any contacts from their normal employment.
In order to standardise the procedure for the control of dysentery and food poisoning
an agreement was reached with adjacent authorities to adopt that which was
recommended in the guide issued jointly by the Society of Medical Officers of Health
and the Public Health Laboratory Service. This guide will not necessarily be appropriate
for all situations and the circumstances of each individual case will be considered.
Food Poisoning.
A complaint was received that three persons had been taken ill after eating a meal
which included turkey, and that the turkey was suspected as being the cause.
The turkey was purchased as a fresh bird, already cleaned. It was stuffed, cooked
and eaten hot the same evening. One person complained of some discomfort that night.
After the meal the turkey was allowed to cool for about 2 hours before being put
in the refrigerator.
The following day another member of the household had stomach pains, but both
affected persons felt well enough to eat some cold turkey for their lunch. During the
afternoon, the third and youngest person (age 23) was affected with abdominal pain,
and the first two became much worse, suffering nausea, acute pain and diarrhoea which
persisted for several days. This occurred over a Bank Holiday weekend and a doctor
was not called in.
13