Appendix: Four Lab Reports
This report attempts to focus on the “big picture”, the concepts of public health that guided the work of the laboratory during each period. The day to day work of any lab, however, involves receiving specimens, testing them as accurately as possible, and reporting the results in a timely manner so that the data may be acted upon. This appendix presents annual reports of the Greenwich Department of Health Laboratory from four different periods in its existence, so that the development in its operations may be traced.
Annual Report, 1915
Type of Test Number Performed
Milk examinations 291
Water examinations 61
Visits to dairies 46
Fumigations 50
Widal examinations, positive 13
Widal examinations, negative 22
Sputum examinations, positive 11
Sputum examinations, negative 25
Malaria examinations, positive 3
Malaria examinations, negative 13
Nuisances reported 460
Nuisances abated 455
Nuisances improved 5
Nuisances not remedied 0
Cultures for diagnosis (Diphtheria), positive 22
Cultures for diagnosis (Diphtheria), negative 450
Cultures for release (Diphtheria) 94
Visits to patients at General Hospital 111
This is the first Annual Report, and it presents a picture of Dr. Bennett multi-tasking as a sanitarian (inspecting dairies, abating nuisances, overseeing fumigations of homes of patients with communicable diseases), a physician (hospital visits) and a bacteriologist, performing Widal examinations for syphilis, sputum examinations for tuberculosis, blood smears for malaria, and many tests for diphtheria.
Annual Report, 1950
Type of Test Plus Minus Total
Examination for C. Diphtheria 0 9 9
Examination for Hemolytic Streptococci 2 7 9
Examination for Vincent’s Organisms 9 1 9
Examination for Neisseria Gonorrhea 0 26 26
Examination for Dysentery Group 0 8 8
Examination for Typhoid Group 0 8 8
Examination for M. Tuberculosis 20 45 65
Miscellaneous Bacteriological, Chemical
& Serological Examinations 186
Examinations for Urinalysis 9 1 3
Kahn test for Syphilis 0 6 6
Bacteriological Examination of Water 91
Bacteriological Examination of Milk 290
Milk Fat Determination 166
Cultures From Eating Places 3,051
Total 4837
Thirty-five years later, Mr. Bozza’s work still concentrates on diagnostic bacteriology, with much less diphtheria work, more sexually transmitted diseases, gastrointestinal problems (typhoid, dysentery), tuberculosis, streptococcal infections which can cause scarlet fever, a disease of the heart, and testing for Vincent’s organisms (causing “trench mouth”, possibly referrals from the Dental program). A decade earlier the lab was testing for Vincent’s organisms at the rate of about 150 per year. These statistics reflect the beginnings of the control of infectious diseases due to the use of vaccines and antibiotics, and of concern for prevention, in the testing of restaurant eating utensils.
Annual Report, 1974-75
Type of Test Number of Specimens Number of Examinations
Cultures from Eating Places 153 309
Urine 76 278
Diabetes Drey-paks 516 523
Fluoride 24 24
Air Pollution- Pollen Count 19 19
Air Pollution- Other 73,968 73,968
Food 19 53
Miscellaneous Chemistry 7 7
Water: Beaches and Harbors 273 700
Water: Other 633 1,939
Diagnostic: Hemolytic Streptococci 690 1,417
Diagnostic: Bacteriology (Includes
Food-Borne Disease cultures) 49 207
Biological Identification 13 13
Narcotics 2 8
Hemoglobin 778 823
Noise Surveys 34 34
Total 77,254 80,322
Twenty-five years later, this report demonstrates a major shift in the laboratory’s work. A huge number of air pollution measurements are reported, and a large number of water pollution tests as well. Mrs. Morrison and her crew have begun reporting examinations as well as the number of specimens, as a water sample might be tested for a dozen different bacteriological and chemical parameters, for example. One can see a shift to concern for chronic disease (diabetes screening) and prevention (hemoglobin screens, monitoring the distribution water for fluoride, which had been added to the water to prevent tooth decay since 1952) as well.
Greenwich switched its annual reports to reporting by fiscal year in 1963.
Annual Report 2010-11
ENVIRONMENTAL STATISTICS
Test Number of Samples Number of examinations
Public Water Supply 215 1153
Well Water Supply 292 1702
Public Swimming Pools 230 888
Beaches & Harbors 194 200
Pos. Sewage, Ponds, Rivers 250 2738
Lead In Paint & Ceramics 7 7
Biological ID's Insects/Matter 270 270
Ticks - Agricultural Station 12 12
Ticks Tested In House 607 607
Ticks MDL 13 13
Co In Police Cars 23 23
Radon in Air 134 134
CLINICAL STATISTICS
Lead in Blood 72 72
Hemoglobin 118 118
Cholesterol 55 55
Mr. Serafin’s report 35 years later shows that the laboratory has shifted away from clinical diagnostic procedures and now focuses on environmental health and prevention. The laboratory tests public and private drinking water sources for chemical and bacteriological contamination, and monitors inland and coastal waters of the town for pollution. A large number of ticks are being tested annually for Lyme disease and babesiosis, and homes are tested for the presence of radon. Clinical activity focuses on screening children for hemoglobin and blood lead, and providing cholesterol testing to the public, often as part of nutrition education programs. The laboratory now uses POC (Point-of-Care) technology, which allows the test results to be given to the patient while they are still in the lab, allowing better opportunities for health education. Not reflected in the statistics are the laboratory’s activities in emergency preparedness and the dissemination of information regarding the re-emergence of the historic public nuisance of pesticide-resistant bedbugs, a legacy of the overuse of pesticides in the past.