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Enteric Fever.
There were no cases of typhoid or paratyphoid fever.
Dysentery.
Sonne dysentery was especially prevalent in the first 5 months of
the year. The infection began to assume epidemic proportions towards
the end of January and continued until mid May. Out of a total of
264 cases, 58 were patients in Queen Mary's Hospital and a further
21 members of the staff of that institution. The remaining 185 were
residents of the district.
The disease was in the mild form commonly associated with this
particular type of organism. A large proportion of the cases came to
notice as the result of enquiries by the Department into the domestic
and school contacts of cases which had been detected at a day nursery
and it was found that many of these patients had not thought their
diarrhoeic symptoms severe enough to seek medical advice. This
conforms with previous experience. The disease is characterised by
2 or 3 days diarrhoea, sometimes less, and there is no doubt that owing
to its relative mildness much of the infection escapes notice. This in
turn makes it extremely difficult to exercise any effective control over
the infection since it is very contagious and is easily spread, particularly
through members of the same family, unless the strictest personal hygiene
is practised.
None of the cases was fatal.
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