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75
primary pneumonia and 2 being acute influenzal pneumonia. Of the total,
4 cases were removed to hospital for treatment.
The number of deaths from pneumonia (all forms) was 70, and
the number of deaths from influenza was 4 during 1960.
Dysentery
Seventy-one cases of dysentery were notified during 1960, all
of which were bacillary in origin, the majority being due to the Sonne
bacillus. Generally speaking the cases were of a mild type and there
were no deaths. Fifteen of these patients were treated in hospital.
Erysipelas
Nine cases were notified during the year; eight were treated
at home, and one was admitted to hospital. There were no deaths.
Meningococcal Infection
Four cases of this disease were notified during the year and
were removed to hospital. No deaths were reported.
Malaria
Two cases of malaria were reported during the year, but
investigations showed that the patients had recently returned from
abroad, and presumably had contracted infection overseas.
Poliomyelitis
Three cases of acute poliomyelitis were notified and confirmed during the year; all showed symptoms of paralysis. There was
no death from this disease during the year. The figures in the last
six years are as follows:-
Year
Confirmed cases
Deaths
1955 30 Nil
1956 21 Nil
1957 15 1
1958 4 Nil
1959 8 Nil
1960 3 Nil
There were 6 suspected cases removed to hospital, where the
diagnosis was not confirmed. Contacts of all cases were kept under
surveillance for twenty-one days (or until the diagnosis was changed
in unconfirmed cases). Kensington residents, who were contacts of
cases occurring outside the borough, were also kept under observation.
The number of confirmed cases is the lowest for very many
years and follows the general pattern of notifications for England and
Wales. In fact, in 1960 there were only 66 deaths recorded in
England and Wales, the lowest since the epidemic of 1947.
Evidence that vaccination against poliomyelitis is effective
increases every year and a recent report by the World Health Organisation Expert Committee states that "inactivated vaccines have proved to be
safe and effective". It is probably true to say that vaccination is
slowly and steadily reducing the number of cases all over the world.
However, there is no cause for complacency and every effort
must be taken to see that the level of protected persons in the
borough is raised as high as possible.