London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Kensington 1956

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]

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were no deaths.
Erysipelas
Five cases were notified during the year; three were treated
at home, and two were admitted to hospital. There were no deaths.
Meningococcal infection
Six cases of this disease were notified during the year and
all were removed to hospital. No deaths were reported.
Malaria
One case of malaria was reported during the year, but
investigations showed that the patient had recently returned from
abroad, and presumably had contracted the infection overseas.
Poliomyelitis
There were twenty-one cases of acute poliomyelitis notified
and confirmed during the year; fourteen of 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 s-

YearConfirmed casesDeaths
195530Nil
19545Nil
1953141
1952212
195112Nil

Contacts of all cases notified were kept under surveillance
for twenty-one days, (or until the diagnosis was changed in unconfirmed
cases.) In each instance an advisory pamphlet was issued setting out
the elementary precautions to be taken. A number of Kensington residents,
who were contacts of cases occurring outside the borough, were also kept
under observation.
During this year, there were two instances of multiple cases
within a single family. In the first instance, two children were involved
(one paralytic and one non-paralytic), and in the second, both parents
(paralytic) and one (non-paralytic) Of their two children were affected.
Investigation in the field concerning the possible association
between inoculation against other diseases and the contraction of
poliomyelitis was discontinued during the year by the Medical Research
Council. However, with the advent of inoculations against poliomyelitis
itself, the public health department has been working closely with the
London County Council. One case of non-paralytic poliomyelitis, who fell
ill in September, had been inoculated three months earlier. It was clear
that the inoculation was not responsible for the disease.
Acute encephalitis
Two cases of this disease were notified in the borough during
1956. No deaths occurred.
Measles
Of the three hundred and fifty-eight cases notified during
1956, thirteen were admitted to hospital for treatment. No deaths
occurred from this disease.