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
Southgate 1960
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Southgate]
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PREVALENCE AND CONTROL OF
INFECTIOUS DISEASES
From the table of infectious diseases set out on page 35, it
will be seen that 336 cases of infectious disease were notified during
the year as against 894 in 1959. The Infectious Sickness Rate for
the year was therefore 4.80 as compared with 11.02 during the
previous year.
The following table sets out the infectious diseases notifications during 1960, as compared with the notifications during 1959:
| 1960 | 1959 | |
|---|---|---|
| Scarlet fever | 57 | 33 |
| Measles | 41 | 732 |
| Pertussis | 60 | 9 |
| Pneumonia | 18 | 55 |
| Erysipelas | 3 | 4 |
| Food Poisoning | 21 | 3 |
| Dysentery | 104 | 31 |
| Meningitis | 1 | — |
| Poliomyelitis | — | 1 |
| Typhoid fever | — | 1 |
| Encephalitis | 1 | — |
| Puerperal Pyrexia | 1 | — |
| Ophthalmia Neonatorum | 1 | |
| Tuberculosis | 28 | 25 |
| 336 | 894 |
From the table set out above, the following points emerge :
1. Scarlet fever notifications rose from 33 in 1959 to 57 in
1960. Once again, the type of scarlet fever met with was extremely
mild.
2. For the thirteenth year in succession, no case of diphtheria
occurred in the Borough. The last death took place approximately
18 years ago. The fact that small outbreaks of diphtheria are still
occurring throughout the country, however, means that we cannot
relax our precautions in any way. This particularly applies to
immunisation, which is now normally carried out by the triple
method, i.e. diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus combined. The
addition of tetanus vaccination is a welcome addition to our
armamentarium.
31