2
History of the outbreak.
8. The outbreak commenced on the 8th of November when twelve European children developed symptoms of the disease so severe that seven of them subsequently died. On the following day twelve more European children went down.
9. The following table shows in condensed form the course of the epidemic.
Date
Cases
Type of causative organism Shiga Flexner unidentified
Termination
November 8...
12
7
5
7 died.
9.
12
7
22
10.
5
1
1
11.
4
2
N
J
12....
2
1
1
13.....
2
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
25
5
""
"J
2
14....
2
1
1
0
,
15....
1
1
0
J
*
16.
5
3
2
22
17
18..
J
31
19..
2
2
20........... 1
1
0
0
""
''
21.
3
3
0
وو
22.
1
1
23..
24
2
1
1
0
,,
""
25..
""
""
26.
2
0
22
>>
10. From the 8th up to and including the 19th there were forty-seven cases. reported all but four of whom were European children under ten years of age. The causative organism was in twenty-five cases proved to be the bacterium dysenteria of Shiga, in four that of Flexner and in the remainder the organism was not isolated and identified though in the majority of cases the severity of the symptoms pointed strongly to Shiga infection. In some cases where the first laboratory findings were negative subsequent tests proved positive for Shiga.
11. From the list it will be seen that the fulminating part of the outbreak was confined to a few days and was due to Shiga. Seven of the eight deaths were those of children who were attacked with symptoms on the 8th of November and the remaining one on the 16th was that of a Chinese infant the son of a Chinese house boy engaged in one of the houses where two children had died of dysentery and who had been given the clothes of the deceased. It is surmised that this was a case of carriage of infection through infected clothing.
12. As with most outbreaks there was no reason at the commencement to suppose that this one would assume epidemic proportions.
The cases were scattered some being in Kowloon some in Victoria. Some were treated by private practitioners either in private hospitals or at their own homes others were under the care of Government Medical Officers in Government hospitals.
13. Dysentery not being a notifiable disease and no reports having been received from private practitioners or private hospitals of the occurrence of cases it was not until the 12th that suspicion was aroused that an epidemic was in being and that the cases might have received infection from a common source.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.