December 1, 1986

Two weeks ago, in the kitchen of an inviting nursing home in this placid town just north of Hartford, something went terribly wrong. Five patients at the Mountain View Healthcare center have since died, victims of what health officials call an unusually deadly spread of salmonella bacteria. Three are still infected, though officials say that the bacteria are under control and that no further deaths are expected. The dead - four women and a man between the ages of 77 and 96 - had been suffering from a variety of chronic troubles: heart ailments, stroke, and respiratory illness.

American Brands Inc., the large tobacco company, said yesterday that it had sweetened its $66-a-share takeover bid for Chesebrough-Pond's Inc. to $69 over the weekend, but that the consumer products company, which makes such well-known brands as Vaseline and Pond's beauty creams, had turned down the offer. As a result, American Brands said that it would begin a tender offer for the company today for $66 a share, or a total of about $2.8 billion, as originally planned. The tender offer comes one day before the deadline by which a company wishing to acquire another under the current tax laws must begin a bid.

The economy continued to grow at a moderate pace in November, according to the monthly report of the National Association of Purchasing Managment, released today. The report, based on a survey of purchasing managers in 250 industrial companies, indicated that production levels were up slightly over their October levels, as new orders showed modest increases. Inventory and employment levels were significantly lower, however.

Throughout New York City, ever-younger girls are becoming pregnant ever more frequently. Over the last five years, even as pregnancies among 15-to-19-year-olds have remained nearly steady, the rate among younger girls - some not even teen-agers -has risen. School officials offer a variety of reasons for the situation - the girls' desire for respite from a grim future, an ignorance of birth control and an unwillingness to postpone sex - but the officials remain perplexed as they try to keep their students' lives on course. The most candid explanations are offered by the child mothers themselves. 'He Couldn't Hack It' The story of Roseann Collado, now a 17-year-old student at Jane Addams Vocational High School in the Bronx, reflects the experience of many young mothers. She became pregnant at age 13 and again a year later. The father of both children was a 15-year-old with whom she liked to hang around, and whom she hoped to persuade to marry her. Instead he disappeared, leaving Ms. Collado alone with two children at the age of 15.

In the emotional roller coaster ride of a National Football League season, flat periods inevitably disrupt the flow. So who could blame the Washington Redskins for waiting until four seconds remained today before Max Zendejas kicked a 27-yard field to put away the St. Louis Cardinals, 20-17? After all, today's game was wedged between highly charged victories over the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys and next Sunday's date with the Giants in Washington -a game that will have a huge bearing on the playoff lineup: By beating the Cardinals, the Redskins improved to 11-2 and qualified for the playoffs; the Giants can do the same Monday night with a victory over the 49ers in San Francisco. And how many times in the aftermath today were the Redskins reminded of the Giants?