London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Greenwich 1953
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Greenwich Borough]
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100
SECTION F
Prevalence of, and control over, infectious and
other Diseases
During the year under review, the only addition to legislation
in respect of Infectious Diseases was provided by the Public Health
(Infectious Diseases) Regulations, 1953, which, revoking the 1927
Regulations, operated from 1st April. These new Regulations
modify Section 144 of the Public Health Act, 1936, in respect to
the notification of malaria, dysentery, acute primary or acute
influenzal pneumonia, and prescribe action in relation to malaria,
typhus and relapsing fever. In addition they give wider powers to
the Medical Officer of Health in regard to the prevention and spread
of food poisoning and extend the authority of control in the food
and drink trades to cases and presumptive carriers of specially
defined infections.
The total number of Infectious Diseases notified under Section 192 of the Public Health (London) Act, 1936, and associated Orders and Regulations was 1,158. Under the Public Health (Tuberculosis) Regulations, 1952, there were 103 notifications, giving a consolidated total of 1,261 cases notified during the year. In 19 of these cases the diagnoses were not confirmed, thus giving a corrected figure of 1,242. The following table indicates the figures for seven years :—
| Year | No. of corrected notifications |
|---|---|
| 1946 | 1,691 |
| 1947 | 1,013 |
| 1948 | 1,671 |
| 1949 | 1,335 |
| 1950 | 1,644 |
| 1951 | 2,266 |
| 1952 | 1,565 |
| 1953 | 1,242 |
| Particulars of age groups and districts affected are shown in the table at the end of this Report. | |