London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Kensington 1959

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]

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66
Erysipelas
Six cases were notified during the year; four were treated at
home, and two were admitted to hospital. There were no deaths.
Meningococcal infection
Two cases of this disease were notified during the year and were
removed to hospital. No deaths were reported.
Malaria
One case of malaria was reported during the year, but investigation
showed that the patient had recently returned from abroad, and presumably
contracted the infection overseas.
Poliomyelitis
There were eight cases of acute poliomyelitis notified and
confirmed during the year; seven of the cases showed symptoms of paralysis.
There were no deaths from this disease during the year.

The figures in the last five years are as follows

YearConfirmed casesDeaths
195550Nil
195621Nil
1957151
19584Nil
19598Nil

There were seventeen suspected cases removed to hospital, where
the diagnosis was not confirmed. Contacts of all cases were kept under
surveillance for twenty-one days, (or until the diagnosis was changed
in unconfirmed cases.) In each instance an advisory pamphlet was issued
setting out the elementary precautions to be taken. Kensington residents,
who were contacts of cases occurring outside the borough, were also kept
under observation.
It is still too early to assess whether or not the programme
of vaccination against poliomyelitis has permanently affected the incidence
of this disease. During the year, the Medical Research Council continued
its investigation of the possible association between poliomyelitis and
inoculation against disease, including poliomyelitis vaccination. The
public health department continued to supply information to the Medical
Research Council on these aspects of Kensington cases, and to keep the
London County Council informed on the incidence of the disease in Kensington.
None of the cases occurring this year had been vaccinated against the
disease.
Acute Encephalitis
One case of the post-infectious type (measles) of this disease
was notified in the borough during 1959; the patient recovered after
treatment in hospital.
Measles
Of the seven hundred and thirty-seven cases notified during 1959j
twenty-four were admitted to hospital for treatment.
One death of a child occurred in hospital and the cause was
registered as "extensive broncho-pneumonia and measles."