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
Carshalton 1956
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Carshalton]
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TABLE 13.
WHOOPING COUGH—WARD INCIDENCE AND MONTHLY DISTR1RUTION, 1956.
(Excluding hospital patients non-resident in Carshalton)
| 1956 | Ward | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Helier North | St. Helier South | St. Helier West | North-East | Northwest | Central | South-East | South-West | ||
| January | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 8 |
| February | 1 | 3 | – | – | 4 | – | – | – | |
| March | 1 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | – | – | 1 | 17 |
| April | – | 14 | 2 | – | 2 | – | – | – | 18 |
| May | – | 2 | – | 2 | 4 | 1 | – | – | 9 |
| June | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 2 |
| July | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| August | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 10 |
| September | 1 | – | 1 | 3 | – | 2 | 2 | 1 | |
| October | 1 | – | 2 | 1 | – | – | 2 | – | 6 |
| November | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 1 |
| December | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Totals | 5 | 25 | 11 | 8 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 73 |
| Monthly Mean | 0.41 | 2.08 | 0.91 | 0.66 | 1.25 | 0.25 | 0.33 | 0.16 | 6.08 |
| Case rate per 1,000 population | 0.58 | 3.59 | 1.39 | 0.81 | 2.04 | 0.51 | 0.42 | 0.30 | 1.19 |
Meningococcal Infection
Three cases of meningococcal meningitis were notified. Two were
babies one of one year eight months, one of three years and the third an
adult woman of 59. Only an occasional single case has occurred in the last
eight years, one in each of the years 1955, 1953, 1950 and 1948, so that the
occurrence of three cases must be taken as an indication that the infection
was slightly more widely spread in the population in 1956. Fortunately the
use of the sulpha drugs and anti-biotics has transformed the treatment of
what used to be a highly fatal disease. All three patients made an
uninterrupted and complete recovery as a result of this modern therapy.
Poliomyelitis
Poliomyelitis was more prevalent than at any time since the major
epidemic of 1947. Fourteen cases were notified of which four were accompanied
by some degree of paralysis and one died. Details were as follows :
50