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Diphtheria. For the second time on record we had no
cases of diphtheria notified in the district. We have in fact
had only one case during the past three years.
Table XVIII on page 62 shows the decline of this disease
since the introduction of immunisation.
Food Poisoning'. During the year there were only three
notifications of food poisoning. The first case was a man aged
45 who was working in the City. The only food he had
which was thought likely to have caused his condition were
some sandwiches he had consumed at a restaurant in the
City. The Medical Officer of Health of the Corporation of
London made investigations from his end, but no other cases
were traced.
The second case was a woman aged 42. It was not possible
to ascertain the cause, and a fecal specimen taken showed
no pathogenic organisms present.
In the third case, a woman aged 26, salmonella typhimurium
was isolated from the feces. Investigation showed
that there was mouse infestation at home. Two mice were
caught and sent to the Public Health Laboratory for examination,
but no organisms were isolated.
There were only these isolated cases referred to above.
There were no outbreaks of food poisoning.
Food Poisoning Contacts. During April and May several
cases of food poisoning (Salmonella Bnteriditis Gartner)
occurred in an institution just outside the district. All patients
discharged from the infected wards were investigated as
contacts until the outbreak was cleared.
In all, 60 contacts residing in the Merton and Morden
area were visited and in four cases, persons were found to
have symptoms of diarrhoea and vomiting. In these cases,
fecal specimens were sent to the Public Health Laboratory,
but on no occasion was any pathogenic organism isolated.
Dysentery. There were 11 cases of dysentery notified
during the year and in all of these, shigella sonnei was isolated
from the feces. In the main they were sporadic cases having
no apparent connection, but there was what might be termed
a slight outbreak in one of the schools in the area, in which 5
eases were notified, three of the children being in the same
class. In all cases concerning schools or nurseries two negative
swabs were obtained before the children were allowed to
return.
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