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
Chelsea 1954
Annual report of the Medical Officer of Health for the year 1954
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-64 -
DIPHTHRIA IMMUNISATON
The campaign to secure immunisation against, diphtheria continues unabated.
The work received a set-back in 1953 owing to the incidence of poliomyelitis
during the summer months, which rendered it necessary to apply curtailment,,
To illustrate this, notifications of poliomyelitis received in London during
an identical period in July during the last three years are set out -
Poliomyelitis cases notifiedin London
| Year | Paralytic | Non-Paralvtic | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| 1953 | 17 | 10 | 27 |
| 1954 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
With the relaxation of restrictions last year, good progress was made, as will be seen from the following table. The figures in parentheses show the corresponding returns for 1953.
| AGE at date of final injection (as regards A) or of | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 to 9 | 10 to 14 | Total | |
| A. No. of children who completed a full course of Primary Immunisation in the authority's area (including temporary residents) during the year ended 31st December 1954. | 256 | 176 | 87 | 30 | 19 | 107 | 2 | 677 |
| (128) | (164) | (67) | (14) | (14) | (74) | (461) | ||
| B. No. of children who received a secondary (reinforcing) injection (i.e. subsequently to primary immunisation at an earlier age) during the year ended 31st December 1954. | - | 1 | 72 | 428 | 156 | 657 | ||
| (-) | (-) | (1) | (1) | (41) | (209) | (26) | (277) | |
Diphtheria Immunisation work in this Borough is carried out by the London
County Council at the Violet Melchett Infant Welfare Centre, Flood Walk, S.W.3.
Further reference there to will be found on Page 42.