[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Harrow].

Harrow (London, England). Urban District Council.

Date:: [1943]

Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: [Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Harrow]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

25/44 (page 23)

23 three cases in each of two consecutive weeks were followed by a single case in each of three weeks ; (5) a school from which one case only was notified for each of 13 consecutive weeks except two when there were no cases and one when there were three. In one school over a period of 17 weeks there were 28 cases, 5 occurring in one week, 4 in two and 3 in another two. In another school there were 16 cases over 7 con secutive weeks, 4 cases occurring in one week and 3 in another. Later in the year 19 cases occurred in 7 consecutive weeks in one department, 5 cases appearing in one week and 4 in another. Another school had cases almost every week for 15 weeks, the greatest number in any one week being 5, there being 4 cases on two occasions and 3 on two, in all during that time there being 24 cases. 10 cases occurred over a period of 11 weeks at a junior school, the greatest number of cases notified in any one week being three. ENTERIC FEVER. As contrasted with last year when there were many infections in the district, this year only two cases were notified and in one of these the diagnosis was revised to that of enteritis. The only case was that of a paratyphoid B. infection in an adult female whose onset was late July and who was removed for treatment to a general hospital. DYSENTERY. More notifications than usual of dysentery were received, the number being 22, but the diagnosis in 3 who were admitted to Isolation Hospitals was, as a result of bacteriological findings, amended to enteritis. Seven were either in-patients or members of the staff of a hospital in this district, the organism in each case being Sonne. Three patients were admitted to Redhill Hospital from different parts of the district during February, the illness in each case being due to the Sonne organism, as was that of another patient admitted to the same hospital in May. In July two patients admitted to Redhill Hospital were suffering from infection, the one with a Flexner organism, the other, a small girl, infected with Morgan's bacillus which was responsible for the illness of a boy admitted there in October and a man admitted in the same month. The Flexner organism was also found in a Service patient admitted to another hospital in December. Two patients were treated at home, one in June, the other in October, and no bacteriological examinations were carried out. It seems very certain that much of this type of infection has been prevalent as many general medical practitioners experienced it amongst their patients some time during the year. It would be only the severer cases in respect of whom bacteriological examinations would have been carried out and they would be notified only if specific organisms had been found. The number of notifications cannot be accepted as being any real indica tion of the prevalence of this ailment. FOOD POISONING. One case was notified as suffering from this condition, a patient aged 59 who died from a ruptured aneurysm a few days after she had been admitted to hospital on account of food poisoning.