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Ophthalmia Neonatorum
Only one case of this inflammatory infection in the eyes of the newborn
was notified. This again is an infection which usually responds
readily to modern treatment and the prompt application of the newer
drugs and anti biotics, either as a precaution or at onset is successful in
preventing all but the odd cases. This was a mild case which made a
rapid recovery without impairment of vision.
Puerperal Pyrexia
Any rise of temperature of 2° in a woman occurring within two
weeks of childbirth or miscarriage is notifiable as puerperal pyrexia,
whether due to infection of the genital tract or not. As there is within
the Urban District extensive maternity hospital accommodation catering
for a large part of metropolitan Surrey, it is to be expected that this
institutional service will provide a substantial number of notifications of
this nature. The priority groups admitted for hospital confinement either
have some obstetric abnormality or are potentially abnormal and for
this reason the puerperal pyrexia rate is higher than it would be in a
normal cross section of parturient women.
During 1960, 154 cases were notified all in respect of hospital
patients except 4. Twenty-eight of the total were Carshalton mothers.
Food Poisoning
Out of a total of 40 cases of food poisoning notified, 37 were in
respect of an outbreak at one of the local hospitals. The food served to
those affected was from the patients' kitchen and all the sufferers were
patients in the hospital.
Although there was no certain proof, the circumstantial evidence
pointed strongly to veal puree as the vehicle of infection. This food has
of necessity to be subjected to considerable manipulation in that after
boiling it is first minced and then the minced meat put through puree
machines. There was then an interval of two to three hours before the
puree was eaten. No specific pathogenic organisms were isolated either
from the patients or from the veal remnants, but the latter shewed a
heavy contamination with a diverse variety of organisms and the probable
explanation is that this general contamination during processing
resulted in bacterial decomposition of the veal during the interval before
it was consumed.
All cases were relatively mild and the only symptom, that of
diarrhoea, lasted on the average for about 24 hours. All cases recovered.
This is yet another example of the special risks that are attendant upon
manipulating food, especially meat dishes, particularly when an interval
elapses before they are consumed.
Of the remaining three cases notified, two were members of the
same family in whom the cause of their illness pointed to canned beef.
Staphylococcus aureus coagulase positive was isolated in moderate
growth from remnants of the beef, but no pathogens were isolated from
the patients. It is probable that both were affected by the toxins of the
organism preformed in the beef. The relatively short onset and the
fact that vomiting was marked supports this view.
The remaining case was a youth who, with his sister, suffered gastrointestinal
symptoms after eating mushrooms which was the most likely
cause, although proof was lacking.
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