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medical practitioners notified cases of leprosy direct to the Chief
Medical Officer of the Ministry were revoked.
A strictly confidential record of persons suffering from leprosy
and resident in the borough is kept by the Medical Officer of Health,
and they are regularly visited.
Copies of the new Regulations were sent to all medical practitioners
practising in the borough.
International Certificates.
In order to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, certain
countries require that visitors should be vaccinated or inoculated
against specific diseases.
International certificates have been prescribed for smallpox,
cholera and yellow fever. When completed by a medical practitioner, the
certificate must be authenticated by the Medical Officer of Health.
During the year, 21,099 of these certificates were authenticated.
In addition, 16 special certificates were issued to travellers who
refused vaccination on medical or religious grounds.
IMMUNISATION AND VACCINATION.
Immunisation of children against poliomyelitis, diphtheria,
whooping cough, smallpox and tetanus has continued to be carried out by
the Council and general practitioners. With certain exceptions, the
numbers of completed courses of immunisation and booster doses have
shown an increase over those for 1965, but further improvement is still
essential for the maintenance of a satisfactory immunity level. The
number of reinforcing injections given by general practitioners was
fewer than in 1965.
There have been no further developments in respect of measles
vaccination since the Ministry of Health's circular of February, 1966,
which advised that it was then premature to embark on any programme of
general measles vaccination. The Council's participation in the Medical
Research Council's Trial of Measles Vaccine has continued.
It has not been necessary to make any arrangements for vaccination
against anthrax, there being no specific establishments in the borough
in which employees would be at risk.
The scheme for offering BCG vaccination to thirteen-year-old
schoolchildren and contacts of cases of tuberculosis was continued.
Also, with the assistance of one of the medical staff of the Inner
London Education Authority, a group of college students and staff was
included in the scheme.
Poliomyelitis Immunisation.
It is a matter of concern that primary courses and booster doses
given during 1966 were less than those given in the previous year,
resulting in an even lower level of protection. There have not been
any cases of the disease during the year which, of course, in itself
is one of the main reasons for a false sense of security giving rise
to apathy. Oral (Sabin) vaccine is now almost universally preferred
to the injected (Salk) vaccine, the latter now being used in those
cases where there are medical contra-indications to the oral dosage.