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By virtue of Section 61 of the London County Council (General Powers)
Act, 1956, Continued Fever was removed from the list of notifiable infectious
diseases.
Cancer.
The number of deaths from cancer of all sites occurring in residents
of the Borough during the year was 234, being 13 less than last year.
Deaths from lung cancer numbered 70, one more than in 1955.
The association between cancer of the lung and smoking leaves little
doubt that smoking is a direct cause of lung cancer.
Diphtheria.
Although 4 notifications of diphtheria were received, in only one
case was the diagnosis confirmed. The confirmed case was a boy of 5½
years and was unusual, inasmuch as he was one of the rare cases where a
fully inoculated child develops severe diphtheria with extensive membrane,
toxaemia, myocarditis and albuminuria. However he made a complete recovery
It must be remembered that whilst "diphtheria immunisation" in a rare
number of cases does not confer complete immunity it almost always
prevents death from the disease. The child was inoculated in 1952 with
two doses of A.P.T., with an interval of 4 weeks between the doses. The
case has been well written up in the "Lancet" of 29th September, 1956, by
Dr.B.Winokur, lately of St.Ann's General Hospital, London, to whom I am
much indebted for his great interest in the case.

Owing to the policy of deferring immunisation whilst poliomyelitis
is occurring in the district, the number of children immunised in 1955
was considerably less than this year.
Notifications and deaths in England and Wales fell from 18,596 and
722, respectively, in 1945, to 161 and 11 in 1955.
Seventy-seven swabs were forwarded by general practitioners to the
Mile End Group Laboratory, where bacteriological examinations are carried
out on behalf of the Borough Council.
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