[Report 1900] / Medical Officer of Health and School Medical Officer of Health, Rochdale County Borough.

  • Rochdale (Lancashire, England). County Borough Council.
Date:
1900
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1900] / Medical Officer of Health and School Medical Officer of Health, Rochdale County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    «> The cases nearly all commenced on the Sunday. The severity of the illness varied from slight sickness of the stomach, fainting, to severe vomiting, diarrhoea, dysentery, and death in one case, in some cases the temperature was very high, followed by extreme prostration. On enquiry where this cream was procured, I fouud that some was bought by about fifty people at the II. M. F. C. Brimrod Sunday School field, seventeen others at the field occupied by the Drake-street Baptist scholars; others purchased it in the street on the Saturday, and others at the stall in the market. I proceeded to the house of this particular Ice Cream vendor, with the Inspector and assistant, and found that all the cream manufactured on the Friday and Saturday had been sold, and all the ingredients except a little sugar used up. The vessels when examined by me on the Monday contained Ice Cream in the process of manufacture before freezing. Two were situate within a yard of the pail closet and covered with a dry cloth, with the idea of excluding the dust. This cloth, to prevent contamination, should have been clean and moist. Two other tins were placed one on either side of a drain inlet, trapped, but still defective and rather offensive; the slopstone pipe that discharges on to this grid was also offensive. These tins were also covered with dry cloths, and, on examination, some smuts were found inside. The fine strainer used for straining the milk and corn flour after boiling was placed on the window sill, right over the drain inlet and slopstone pipe. Placed within about four inches was a dolly tub and wringing machine; in the dolly tub were babies’ napkins, soiled with diarrhoeal excreta. The other utensils used in the manufacture of this cream were not clean, but the man attributed that to being upset through the alarming reports.