London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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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
Ealing 1952
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Ealing]
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The following table shows the age distribution:
| M. | F. | M. | F. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1 | ||||
| 1—2 | 5 | 1 | ||
| 3—4 | 1 | |||
| 5—9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 10—14 | 2 | 1 | ||
| 15—24 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
| 25+ | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| Total | 10 | 7 | 3 | 1 |
Psittacosis.
During the year the ban on the import of parrots was relaxed
following the finding of the psittacosis virus in several species of
sea birds and domestic fowl.
Thereafter there were several recorded cases and deaths in
England and Wales thought to be due to imported parrots and the
ban was reimposed on February 16th, 1953.
There was no recorded human case in Ealing—but a parrot
in a local pet shop which had been in contact with the disease
sickened and died. The carcase was sent for post mortem investigation
and meantime another bird in the shop also died.
As a precautionary measure the entire stock of parrots in the
shop was slaughtered and no human cases followed.
Puerperal Pyrexia.
There were again no deaths during the year from puerperal
pyrexia but the number of cases rose from 38 to 70.
Perivale Maternity Hospital 63
Private 6
Nursing Homes 1
This increase is due to the wider definition of this condition
introduced in 1951 so that notifications are now received of comparatively
minor upsets often quite unrelated to the pregnancy or
delivery. There was no major outbreak at the hospital of any
infective condition.
Close co¬operation exists between the staff of the Perivale
Maternity Hospital and the Public Health Department.
It would appear likely that the large number of notifications
received from Perivale Maternity Hospital as compared to the other
local hospitals reflects only a more satisfactory system for
notification.