View report page

Measles.
Confirmed cases of measles numbered 1,200, of which 29
were treated in hospital ; there was one death. Deaths from
measles nearly all occur in children under five years of age and
are frequently due to respiratory complications. Since the war,
there has been a marked fall in fatality, but this disease is still
capable of causing permanent damage to the lungs, middle ear
and eyes.
Whooping Cough
There were 229 confirmed cases of whooping cough during
the year, compared with 541 in 1948 ; only one death occurred
from this disease. In children under five years, whooping cough
is a dangerous menace to life and a satisfactory prophylactic
has not yet been discovered. It is customary at the L.C.C.
Clinics in the borough to use a combined diphtheria-pertussis
prophylactic. The necessity for separate courses of injections
against these two diseases is thus avoided.
Acute Poliomyelitis (including Acute Polio-encephalitis).
During the year, 37 cases were notified and removed to
hospital, of which 26 were confirmed. Two of the patients
died.
In this country almost every year there has been a summer
rise in notifications usually starting in the second half of the
month of July. The reason for the seasonal incidence remains
obscure. In the outbreak of 1949, however, the summer rise
commenced earlier—in the second half of June—and the maximum
number of cases occurring during any week was three, i.e.,
the weeks ended 25th June and 24th September. In 1947, the
peak of 6 cases occurred during the week ended 9th August,
and thereafter declined.
The incidence of confirmed cases of poliomyelitis during
the year is indicated in the following graph.