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38
SECTION E
PREVALENCE OF, AND CONTROL OYER, INFECTIOUS DISEASE
The total number of notifications of infectious disease,
excluding Food Poisoning, during 1956 was 514, as compared with
1,117 in 1955. The decrease was mainly due to the smaller number
of cases of measles. Measles accounted for nearly 50% of all
notifications and Whooping Cough for 28%.
Six notifications of poliomyelitis were received during the
year and In five cases the diagnosis was confirmed, all of these
being paralytic.
The number of cases of other diseases notified is shown in
Table 10 which follows, and requires no special comment.
The arrangement whereby any variation in the original diagnosis
is notified by the Hospital Authorities continued in operation
during the year, and Table 10, which gives details of cases notified,
has again been prepared with a column showing the corrected figures
for each disease after taking into consideration the latest Information
supplied by hospitals.
Contacts or Carriers of Infectious Disease - Sickness Benefit
Circular 115/48 of the Ministry of Health empowers the Medical
Officer of Health to issue certificates to persons who have been in
contact with or who are carriers of infectious disease, thus
enabling them to claim sickness benefit under the National Insurance
Acts, when he deems it necessary to exclude such persons from work.
It is only exceptionally that it is necessary to require a contact
or carrier of infectious disease to stay away from work and during
the year under review only one certificate was issued.