View report page

68
"I was asked to see a breast-fed child two months old who was attending an infant welfare centre,
and who was not doing well, and was vomiting. The vomiting turned out to be due to an abscess in the
middle ear. The child died in hospital and at the post-mortem the suppuration in the ear was the
only abnormality found ; this case was not included in the enteritis deaths. This is the only
breast-fed infant that I have seen die during the last twelve years."
" In the majority of cases the food most frequently associated with vomiting and diarrhoea was
ordinary fluid cow's milk."
In addition to the services of Dr. Carter, the council have an arrangement with the district
nursing association for the services of nurses to be available for the home treatment of diarrhoea.
During the year the nurses attended 140 cases, the total number of visits paid being 1,223. Twentythree
of the cases did not respond to home nursing, and these were admitted to hospital, where
five of them died.
In 27 cases the services of the district nurses were requisitioned by local practitioners.
Full routine treatment was carried out in 91 cases, and in 49 rectal washouts were given.
Since 1924, 1,212 cases have been attended by the nurses, and the total number of deaths
amongst these is 46, making a case mortality rate of 3-8 per cent.
Poliomyelitis and Polio-encephalitis.—Three cases of poliomyelitis were notified during the year.
The patients were females aged 16, 18 and 45 years, and all recovered after treatment.
Other notifiable diseases.—With the exception of tuberculosis, which is dealt with in a separate
section, no other notifiable infectious disease was notified.
Non-notifiable Diseases.
Measles.—In the latter part of 1935 measles became epidemic throughout London, and it
remained prevalent in the borough until the summer of 1936.
From the 1st November, 1935, to the 1st August, 1936, 1,794 cases of measles, of which 568 were
admitted to hospital, were brought to the notice of the department. There were 24 deaths from
the disease in Kensington during the epidemic and 26 deaths throughout the year under review.
The London county council and the borough council have adopted a scheme of co-operation,
which is put into force during epidemic periods, with the object of mitigating complications and
reducing the mortality. The scheme was applied early in the year, and the county council provided
increased hospital accommodation for the treatment of those suffering from measles. In addition,
the borough council appointed a trained nurse to carry out the home visiting of cases to ensure that
the patients received proper care and attention. In all she paid 795 visits during the spring of 1936.
Whooping Cough.—There were 13 deaths from this cause. The deaths in the three preceding
years were 10, 36 and 3. The women health officers paid 307 visits to cases of this disease. The
number of cases admitted to hospital from Kensington was 101.
In 1930, the borough council authorised the medical officer of health to open special whooping
cough clinics if the disease appeared in epidemic form in the borough, and for this purpose a sum of
£100 has been provided in the council's estimates each year. The arrangements provide for the clinics
to be opened at the baby clinic at No. 92, Tavistock Road, and at the Kenley Street minor ailment
centre. There was no occasion to open a clinic in 1936.