Two School Epidemics

Abstract

Two school epidemics are contrasted: one at Portsmouth, probably functional, and one at Wrexham, due to Shigella sonnei. The Portsmouth epidemic satisfied criteria suggested previously for functional outbreaks. It occurred in a girls' school, and manifested almost exclusively in school hours. Its incidence showed a swing from older to younger classes with time on the day of maximum involvement; it correlated with conduct disorders. The Wrexham epidemic, studied as a certainly organic control, did not satisfy these criteria. The N scores, but not the E scores, of the Eysenck Personality Inventory, differentiated between affected. and unaffected populations in the Portsmouth epidemic. © 1966, British Medical Journal Publishing Group. All rights reserved.