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14
DYSENTERY. Notifications of dysentery numbered 103, as compared with 134 in
the previous year. Thirty-seven cases were admitted to hospital and there
were three deaths associated with the disease, the causes of death being
certified as follows: -
Male, aged 70 years I (a) Carcinomatosis
(b) Broncho-carcinoma
II Sonne Dysentery
Male, aged 10 months I (a) Bacillary dysentery
(Sh. Sonne)
Female, aged 74 years I (a) Dehydration
(b) Bacillary dysentery
(Sonne)
The incidence of this disease appeared to be, in the main, sporadic though
small groups of cases were associated with schools and nurseries.
ENCEPHALITIS, ACUTE POST-INFECTIOUS, The one case of this disease notified
unfortunately terminated fatally. The victim, a child aged six years,was
admitted to hospital on the sixth day of an attack of measles. She died two
days later, and the cause of death was certified as "Encephalitis and Measles".
MALARIA. Five notifications of malaria were received and all related to
young men who had served with the armed forces in the Far East.
MEASLES. Notifications of Measles numbered 1,508, as compared with 1,748 in
the previous year. There were two deaths associated with this disease, one
being the case already referred to as having died from "Encephalitis and
Measles" and the other a child aged five, in whose case the cause of death was
certified as being due to "Measles, broncho pneumonia and glioma of brain".
MENINGOCOCCAL INFECTION. The seven cases notified were admitted to
hospital for treatment and all made satisfactory recoveries :-
Males - 2 years Females - 7 months
3½ years 4 years
6 years 29 years
17 years
OPHTHALMIA NEONATORUM, This disease is defined in the Public Health
(Ophthalmia Neonatorum) Regulations as "a purulent discharge from the eyes of an
infant, commencing within 21 days from the date of its birth". Two cases only
were notified and both cleared up satisfactorily with no impairment of vision.
PARATYPHOID FEVER. Of the eight cases of this disease notified, six were
involved in a small family outbreak. A man and wife, admitted to hospital as
cases of food poisoning, were found to be suffering from Paratyphoid B. Two
adult sons who showed no symptoms were found to be excreting the Salmonella
Paratyphoid B organism in their stools. Both were admitted to an isolation
hospital, where one subsequently developed severe clinical symptoms. A sister
of the original female case and her husband were also found to be excreting
the organism and these two persons were also admitted to hospital. All these
six persons had visited a seaside resort where they had partaken of shellfish
but enquiries by the staff of the Health Department of the resort in question
failed to establish any direct connection between the food consumed and the
disease. The family consisting of father, mother and two sons conducted
their own confectionery business, and as a result of their incapacity it was
necessary to close down the business for some weeks. A stock of ice-cream