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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Battersea 1955
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Battersea Borough]
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13
Infectious and Other Diseases.
There was a large increase in the number of notifications received
during 1955. Notifications received numbered 2,468, as compared
with 648 in the previous year, 1954, an increase of 1,820. This
Increase was due mainly to an outbreak of measles, occurring in the
spring, the incidence of this disease rising from 192 in 1954, to 1,934
in 1955.
There was also a rise in the incidence of whooping cough, 177
cases being notified in 1955 as compared with 116 in 1954.
No case of diphtheria was notified.
Twenty cases of poliomyelitis were notified, but in 2 of these
cases the diagnosis was not confirmed, leaving 18 confirmed cases
(9 Paralytic and 9 non-paralytic), of which 16 occurred in children
under 15 years of age. In comparison there were 4 cases in the
previous year, and in the years 1947 and 1949 when the incidence
of this disease was high, 23 and 28 cases respectively.
The following table shows the number (corrected) of cases notified during 1955 and, for the purpose of comparison, the average number of cases notified annually in the five years 1950-1954:—
| Notified 1955 | Average 1950/54 | |
|---|---|---|
| Diphtheria | – | 1 |
| Erysipelas | 19 | 18 |
| Scarlet fever | 62 | 109 |
| Paratyphoid fever | – | 1 |
| Continued fever | – | – |
| Puerperal pyrexia | 7 | 28 |
| Meningococcal infection | 4 | 3 |
| Ophthalmia neonatorum | – | 1 |
| Acute Encephalitis | – | 1 |
| Poliomyelitis and Polio-encephalitis | 18 | 8 |
| Malaria | – | – |
| Dysentery | 30 | 16 |
| Pneumonia (Acute primary) | 51 | 68 |
| (Acute influenzal) | 6 | 9 |
| Scabies | 11 | 14 |
| Food poisoning | 20 | 8 |
| Whooping cough | 177 | 269 |
| Measles | 1,934 | 971 |
| Tuberculosis (all forms) | 129 | 161 |
| Totals | 2,468 | 1,686 |
Diphtheria and Whooping Cough Immunisation,
Smallpox Vaccination.
Diphtheria an d whooping cough immunisation and vaccination
against smallpox were carried out throughout the year under the control
of the London County Council.