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105
The number of vaccinations carried out during 1952 was 541
indicating a fall of 774 from that of the previous year.
Today, although every precaution is taken at seaports and
airports, infected persons do occasionally slip through but the
comparative immunity of the country has hitherto been due mainly
to its high vaccination state. With the fall in vaccinations this
fortunate state of affairs cannot be expected to continue.
It is a remarkable thing that the public, who at the present
time are reluctant to protect themselves, rush for vaccination in
the event of an outbreak, and in infected cases it is then usually
too late.
International Certificates (Ministry of Health Circular
20/52).—The question of authentication of International Certificates
of vaccination has now been settled by the adoption of the International
Sanitary Regulations (W.H.O. Regulations No. 2) which
replaced the International Sanitary Conventions on 1st October,
1952. The Regulations prescribe, inter alia, new forms of International
Certificates of vaccination against Cholera and Smallpox
and, to be valid, the certificate must bear an approved stamp
which certifies that the signature of the Vaccinator is that of a
practising medical practitioner.
During the year some 70 certificates of persons proceeding
abroad were so authenticated, of these 66 were in respect of Smallpox
and 4 for Cholera ; in 3 instances the necessary vaccinations
were actually carried out by your Medical Officer of Health.
In addition to the above, 2 certificates in respect of inoculation
against Typhoid were similarly verified.
Measles.—There were 919 notifications received of which one
was not confirmed. The corrected total of 918 compares with 1,482
for the previous year and 935 for 1950. The distribution of the
cases was as follows:—East Greenwich 353 ; West Greenwich 151;
St. Nicholas, Deptford 25; Charlton and Kidbrooke 389.
Twenty-nine cases occurred in children under one year of age,
409 between 1 and 5 years, and 471 between the ages of 5 and 15.
As stated in my 1950 Report, the biennial fluctuation appeared
to be re-asserting itself and this is borne out for the year under
review. The epidemic, whilst not approaching the high incidence
of two years ago, began at a similar period in October and was