ACUTE BACTERIAL POISONING

Dominion, Volume 16, Issue 134, 22 February 1923, Page 8

ACUTE BACTERIAL POISONING

CHILDREN’S DEATHS AT NEW BRIGHTON

MEDICAL EVIDENCE AT INQUEST

By Telegraph.—Press Association. • Christchurch, February 21. An inquest was held to-day touching the death of the three young children of Michael Cook, of North New Brighton, who died early this month from the effects of' food poisoning, which the whole family of eight contracted after eating a meal. Dr. A. B. Pearson, pathologist and bacteriologist at the Christchurch ■ Hospital, said that he had made a postmortem examination, also a bacteriological examination, of the bodies of Maude Cook and Kenneth Cook. Officers of the Health Department had sent witness two samples of milk, some of tho blanc mange, and some stewed apricot juice. He carried out bacteriological examinations of these and recovered tho same bacteria from them as tho bacteria he had _ found m the post-mortem examination. He found the bacteria in the sample of milk from a jug and in the blanc mange. 'These bacteria belonged to the group known as the food-poison-ing group, and he subsequently identified the type of organism by other tests. He did not find tho bacteria in any other food, and he could not say how they could have got there. The bacteria was nob a very common organism. It was associated in its origin with animals, such as cattle and pigs. It might have been in any of the foods in a very minute quantity. The two samples of food he had recovered It from would be ideal for its propagation and growth. It would grow quickly. If the food had been boiled for twenty-five minutes he thought it would settle tho bacteria. The Coroner: How long after eating the food would the bacteria take to develop? Witness: It might be a few hours or 24 hours. Do you think, if the milk had been boiling for 25 minutes, it wffuld have killed the bacteria? —“Yes.” •> Would twenty-five minutes boiling kill it?—“Yes.” “Well, it appears that in some strange manner the bacteria has escaped the boiling,” observed the Coroner. Vitness: It might have got in after tie boiling. In reply to questions, Mr. and Mrs. Cook said that the family did not take milk with the blanc mange. Dr. Pearson said that it was possible for the blanc mange to have been affected after cooking. He could not say how the bacteria got into the food. When the lactic group was destroyed, the milk might appear to be good, although it was not so. To scald milk and keep it a long time was to give the bacteria every opportunity, and it was more dangerous to use scalded milk after keeping it for some lime than it was to use it unscalded. Mr. Cook interjected that he had been told to do the opposite. Dr. Pearson said that he was giving the opinions of the world’s best authorities on the subject. Sergeant Quartermain: Could flies carry infection into the milk? Witness: Certainly. The cause of death, he added, was heart failure due to toxaemia of acute bacterial poisoning.

Dr. T. F. Telford, Health officer for Canterbury and Westland, said that he found there were only three foods eaten by the family at the fatal meal —milk, blanc mange, and stewed apricots, samples of which he secured. Mr. Bickerton, the Government Analyst, made rapid tests of the food. Witness was present at the postmortem examination ■ made by Dr. Pearson, who subsequently reported having recovered the bacillus aertryche from the milk and blanc mange. Dr. Pearson subsequently recovered these from the organs of the deceased. A guinea pig was inoculated with the emulsion of the blance mange, and it died wthin 36 hours, and the same bacillus was recovered from the animal. That definitely located it. Witness thoroughly inspected the premises and came to the conclusion that they were too small for the family and unsuitable for the preparation of food for sale. The Coroner: WTiat food did they prepare ? Witness: Ice cream. Tho surroundings were absolutely unhygienic, were they not? —“Not so much from the matter of cleanliness, but for tire preparation of food.” In further evidence, Dr. Telford said that there was no doubt the milk was contaminated. It could easily have become contaminated by flies or dust, or by contact. The cleanliness of one’s finger-nails was a very important factor in the preparation of foodstuffs. The house was quite unsuitable for a family of eight persons, and therefore food was all the more liable to contamination. In reply to a question, Mr. Cook said that he had complied with the Health Department's regulations. The Coroner returned a verdict in accordance with Dr. Pcttr son’s testimony, and expressed his deep sympathy to Mr. and Mrs. Cook and their family in the great loss they had sustained.