asked the Minister for Local Government and Public Health whether he is in a position to indicate the nature of the disease responsible for the illness of certain persons present at a dance in a Dublin restaurant in May, 1944, and also the source of such disease or infection.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Outbreaks of Disease.
The Corporation of Dublin as sanitary authority is the body responsible for an investigation of the outbreak. A medical inspector of the Department co-operated with the city medical superintendent officer of health in the investigations which were made. The evidence furnished by the corporation indicated that the nature of the disease was paratyphoid B. The outbreak was believed to be due to a carrier.
asked the Minister for Local Government and Public Health whether he is in a position to state the nature of the disease or infection responsible for the illness of certain passengers and employees on the Dublin-Belfast train of the Great Northern Railway; and, if so, if he can indicate the source of such disease or infection.
The Corporation of Dublin as sanitary authority is the body responsible for the investigation of outbreaks of disease within the city and for the measures necessary to combat them. A medical inspector of the Department co-operated with the local authority in an investigation of the causes of the outbreak. The medical superintendent officer of health reported to the corporation that the outbreak was typhoid fever and was due to a carrier and not to any contamination of the city's milk or water supplies.
Would the Parliamentary Secretary express an opinion as to whether it was the one carrier or not? He makes reference to a carrier in Dublin and also to a carrier on the train. Is there more than one carrier suspected?
Not in the case of the typhoid outbreak.
asked the Minister for Local Government and Public Health whether he is in a position to indicate the nature and source of the recent outbreak of food poisoning in Drimnagh, Dublin, and if he will state what steps, if any, have been taken to control the source of such outbreak.
The Corporation of Dublin as sanitary authority was responsible for the investigation of this outbreak. A medical inspector of the Department co-operated with the medical superintendent officer of health in the investigations. In a report made by the medical superintendent officer he sets out that the bacteriological and serological findings identified bacillus aertryche as the cause of the outbreak; that the outbreak was limited and circumscribed and confined to families who were neighbours and who were accustomed to helping each other in the preparation of food for consumption by the members of the respective families. During his investigations it was ascertained that butter, cornflour and milk were mixed and boiled and a raw egg subsequently added. The organism referred to was found in a portion of this mixture which had been prepared for use.
The measures recommended by the medical superintendent officer of health, in a statement to the public Press, are the careful handling of food by persons in their homes and its protection from contamination.
Could the Parliamentary Secretary say whether any note was taken of the considerable delay which took place between the first notification of the outbreak and the first issue of any general advice on the part of the public health authorities to the citizens as to what measures they should take to safeguard themselves and whether any representations were made to the public health authorities in that respect?
I would require notice of that question.
It is a separate question.
asked the Minister for Local Government and Public Health if he will state the number of cases of typhoid fever during each week in July and August, 1939, and in July and August, 1944; and the number of deaths of persons suffering from typhoid fever during the said periods in (a) the County Borough of Dublin: (b) Éire.
The information has been prepared in the form of a tabular statement which will be circulated with the Official Report.
Following is the statement referred to:—
Cases of typhoid fever notified in Dublin County Borough and in the remainder of the country, and deaths resulting from the disease in Dublin County Borough.
|
Week ending |
1944 |
1939 |
|||||
|
Cases |
Deaths |
Week ending |
Cases |
Deaths |
|||
|
Dublin C.B. |
Whole Country |
Dublin C.B. |
Dublin C.B. |
Whole Country |
Dublin C.B. |
||
|
July1 |
— |
4 |
— |
July1 |
1 |
10 |
— |
|
8 |
— |
5 |
— |
8 |
— |
3 |
— |
|
15 |
— |
10 |
— |
15 |
— |
13 |
— |
|
22 |
3 |
14 |
— |
22 |
1 |
8 |
— |
|
29 |
5 |
14 |
— |
29 |
— |
8 |
1 |
|
August5 |
13 |
20 |
1 |
August5 |
1 |
7 |
— |
|
12 |
10 |
23 |
1 |
12 |
1 |
3 |
— |
|
19 |
4 |
10 |
— |
19 |
— |
8 |
— |
|
26 |
1 |
6 |
— |
26 |
1 |
5 |
— |
NOTE.—It is not possible from the published returns which relate to quarterly periods to give the numbers of deaths in the whole country for the weeks specified. The number of deaths in the quarterly period ended 30th September, 1939, was 14. The returns for the quarterly period ending 30th September, 1944, will not be available for a considerable time.
asked the Minister for Local Government and Public Health if public health authorities have any statutory powers to enable them to take steps with the object of preventing known carriers of typhoid and related diseases from engaging in trades or industries in which food is manufactured, distributed or served for human consumption.
The Public Health (Infectious Diseases) Regulations, 1941, contain the necessary powers.
Am I to take it that the public health authorities, either national or local, have the necessary powers to prevent carriers from contaminating sources of food, in the case of outbreaks of paratyphoid and typhoid disease? Have the authorities also power to compensate those persons, where they suffer loss of employment through being isolated?
The matter of compensation is a separate question.
asked the Minister for Local Government and Public Health whether he has received any representations from public health authorities urging the establishment of a register of carriers of typhoid and similar diseases with the object of enabling such authorities to exercise control over such carriers in order to prevent their association with food destined for human consumption through the nature of their employment.
The reply is in the negative. The necessary provision is already contained in the Public Health (Infectious Diseases) Regulations, 1941.
Could the Parliamentary Secretary state whether any steps have been taken to prevent such carriers from taking up employment?
Has the Deputy any information to the effect that a suspected carrier has in fact taken up employment?
Not up to the latest information I have.
Would the Parliamentary Secretary state if a definite decision has been made or who the authority is which will brand any person as a carrier, without giving him an opportunity of a trial of some kind? That has happened in Dublin, where a person has been branded as a carrier though he says he is not a carrier and knows nothing about it. Surely they are entitled to some consideration and do not deserve to be labelled as carriers for the rest of their lives.
Article 5 of Part II of the Third Schedule to the Public Health (Infectious Diseases) Regulations, 1941, provides that a county or superintendent medical officer of health shall keep, in a book to be provided by the sanitary authority, a strictly confidential register of the names and addresses, together with any other necessary particulars, of all persons in his district who, in his opinion, are carriers of enteric fever. The county medical officer of health or the superintendent medical officer of health, as the case may be, may take the necessary steps for examination. If, on medical or bacteriological examination, there is confirmatory evidence that the person is a carrier, the medical officer may notify the employer of the person, with a view to preventing his being employed.
I am interested in seeing that the unfortunate person who is branded will have any opportunity of appealing to the Department or to his medical officer or to a board of medical officers to lift that label from him and not be blaming him for something that may be a cover-up for somebody else.
The responsible medical officer—either the superintendent medical officer or the county medical officer—will ascertain without doubt whether in fact a person is such a carrier, before putting his name on the list of carriers.
In a case where it is discovered that a person is a carrier, have the public health authorities power to prevent that person from taking up employment and, if he takes up employment, can they take measures to remove him from that employment?
The authorities have power to prevent such a person from taking up certain employment.
I think that the Parliamentary Secretary should advise municipal authorities of that, as they do not seem to know it.
Does the power extend to prevent employment of any kind?
It is a particular power in relation to the preparation or handling of food or drink for human consumption.
Is there an appeal for the unfortunate person who is blamed as a carrier? Will somebody see that the person gets a fair judgment by medical officers?
The municipal authorities have not got the power the Minister referred to.
asked the Minister for Local Government and Public Health whether he can state the number of known cases of food poisoning for each of the years 1939 to 1944, inclusive; and the total number of notifiable acute diseases of the intestines directly attributable to a food source during the same period.
Food poisoning is not a notifiable disease and there are no statistics in relation to it available. Notifiable acute diseases of the intestines are caused by specific microorganisms. In connection with the causation of these diseases food can only be considered as a vehicle, not a source, and is not the sole vehicle. There are, therefore, no notifiable acute diseases of the intestines directly attributable to a food source.