View report page

Food in stores and larders must be moved frequently and examined
carefully for any signs of infestation with mice. People who
have even mild attacks of the infection may become unsuspecting
carriers. In the duck. infection can pass through the oviduct
to the egg.
The need for the suppression of mice is evident. Duck's
eggs must be boiled for ten minutes or otherwise completely
sterilised by heat. The danger from the human carrier demands
extreme vigilance from all engaged in the handling of food. To
secure protection from pathogenic organisms the washing of
hands, particularly after the use of the W. C., must become an
established habit in homes and schools and a duty to the public
of all who work in food premises.
Cerebro Spinal Fever. No case was notified.
Poliomyelitis. Six cases were notified in 1951, compared
with twelve cases in 1950. Two were males aged five and thirtytwo
years. Four were females aged 16, 18, 24 and 37 years.
Four recovered completely. Two have mild residual paralysis.
One of the patients, a student nurse, was resident in a
Preliminary Training School for Nurses. it is the practice for
students to record their own temperature daily as a routine
method of training. The chart of the patient showed a mild
temperature reaction on the probable day of infection, twelve
days previous to the onset of illness. Three of five contacts
showed a similar reaction to infection coinciding with the
illness of the patient. Ten to fifteen days later these contacts
had a rise of temperature corresponding to but11ower than the
temperature curve of illness of the patient. This observation
is of interest in indicating the possibility that such contacts,
symptom-free, ambulant but mildly febrile, may be carriers of
infection.
Pneumonia. Of twenty nine deaths from all forms of
Pneumonia, two were notified before death. The total number of
notified cases arising in the district was sixty eight.
Influenza. Influenza was prevalent in the first quarter
of the year, and caused twenty two deaths, mostly in the elderly,
and as a complication of other illness,
Non-Notifiable Diseases School teachers reported one
hundred and seventy six cases of Chicken Pox, ninety four cases
of Mumps and forty one cases of German Measles. School notifications
area useful indication of the prevalence of non-notifiable
diseases and form a basis for consultation with the school
medical officer.
Scabies. There was a further decrease in the number of
cases of Scabies. Six cases were treated, compared with seventeen
cases in 1950. The number of attendances for treatment was
eighteen, compared with forty two in 1950. Treatment is by
bathing and the application of Benzyl Benzoate emulsion to the
skin.
34