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Diphtheria. For the second year in succession there were
110 cases of diphtheria notified in the district. We have had
only one case in the past four years and. fortunately, no
deaths since 1945. Table XVIII on page 61 gives the incidence
and fatality of this disease since 1920.
Food Poisoning. There were no outbreaks of food poisoning
during the year. There were in fact only 2 notifications.
These concerned a husband and wife who both developed
symptoms at about the same time. As they had both partaken
of the same meals and had disposed of any remains it was
not possible to find the cause of the illnesses. Faecal specimens
were taken and from one stool staph, aureas, coagulase
positive, was isolated. Other specimens proved to be negative.
Both patients made a complete recovery within 48 hours.
Dysentery. Eleven cases of dysentery were notified, all
of which were typed as sonnei. Arising out of two of these
notifications, a minor outbreak of sonnei dysentery was discovered
in one of our schools. Faecal swabs were obtained
from twenty-two children at this school who had symptoms
and twelve were found to be positive to sonnei. All children
with positive swabs were excluded from school until two negatives
had been obtained and the spread of infection was checked
within a fortnight.
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