London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Kensington 1954
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
This page requires JavaScript
63
and the patient was removed to hospital. The attack was a
mild one and the patient made a complete recovery.
Malaria
Pour cases of malaria were reported during the year.
Investigations showed that two of the patients were natives
of countries where malaria is endemic and who had recently
arrived in this country. The remaining two patients were
persons who had recently returned from abroad.
Poliomyelitis
There were five cases of acute poliomyelitis notified
and confirmed during the year; all the cases showed symptoms
of paralysis. There was no death from this disease during
the year.
The figures for the past five years are as follows:-
| Year | Confirmed Cases | Deaths |
|---|---|---|
| 1953 | 14 | 2 |
| 1952 | 21 | 2 |
| 1951 | 12 | Nil |
| 1950 | 13 | 3 |
| 1949 | 47 |
As in previous years, contacts of cases were kept under
supervision for twenty-one days from the last date of contact.
In the Annual Reports for 1952 and 1953, attention was
drawn to the unsatisfactory feature of treatment for poliomyelitis
patients in general hospitals. During 1954, three of the five
notified cases were nursed in such hospitals, although the
public health department continues to press for the removal of
all sufferers to infectious disease hospitals.
The investigation concerning the possible association
between inoculations and the contraction of the disease, is
still continuing in co-operation with the Medical Research Council.
Acute encephalitis
One case of this disease was notified in the borough
during 1954. The patient, a boy aged 11 years, died a few
hours after admission to hospital.
Measles
Of the ninety-four cases notified during 1954, nine were
admitted to hospital for treatment. No death occurred from
this disease.
Ophthalmia neonatorum
Two cases of this disease were notified. Both were
treated in hospital and recovered without injury to sight,
Gastro-enteritis
This disease is notifiable in children up to the age of
five years. The number of cases reported during the year was
twenty. Eleven were removed to hospital for treatment. No
death of a child under five years of age was recorded as due to
gastritis, enteritis or diarrhoea.
Typhus Fever
One case of typhus fever was notified during the year.