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18
Whooping Cough.
A graph is included showing the number of cases of whooping
cough in the Borough since 1940 as compared to the number of
cases in England and Wales during the same period.
It can be seen that there was a close correlation between
the figures until 1952 when there was a very steep decline in the
number of notified cases in the Borough to 77, as compared to
550 in the previous year. This is the lowest number of cases
recorded in Ealing since notification commenced in 1939.
From the figures for England and Wales it would appear
that we should have expected about 330 notifications during the
year. Part, at least, of the diminution in the number of cases
is due to the policy of immunisation of infants against whooping
cough.
During the year 1,778 children received primary immunisation
against whooping cough (1,306 at the Infant Welfare Clinics, 472
from the General Practitioners) and 458 received a booster dose at
the age of 5 years.
The investigation into the value of whooping cough immunisation,
commenced last year, had to be brought to a premature close
owing to the shortage of Health Visitor staff, but it did confirm
the Medical Research Council's findings that the immunised child
usually had a very mild attack while the unimmunised child usually
has a severe attack.
Whooping Cough is a severe and fatal disease. In 1951 it was
responsible for 456 deaths in the United Kingdom.
In the period 1940-48 it caused three times as many deaths in
the United States as Measles, Mumps, Chickenpox, Rubella, Scarlet
Fever, Poliomyelitis and Meningitis put together.
A child under the age of 1 year who develops whooping cough
has a 1 in 10 chance of dying—so that immunisation of infants
at the earliest possible age is desirable.
Experiments are now being undertaken at a London Hospital
as to the practicability of immunising children immediately after
birth.