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102
SECTION F
Prevalence of, and control over, infectious and
other Diseases
During the current year, no new Statutory Instruments were
issued in respect of Infectious Diseases.
Legislation introduced since 1949 in accordance with Section
144 of the Public Health Act, 1936, concerning the notification of
poliomyelitis, encephalitis, meningococcal meningitis, puerperal
pyrexia, etc., has in common with other London boroughs, led to
the allocation to Greenwich of notifications in respect of non-residents
merely as the result of the accidental location of hospitals in
the vicinity.
Statistics in connection with these diseases therefore, have
no specific relevance to the population of the Borough and, with
the uninitiated, could even be misleading. (For example a situation
can and does arise whereby Greenwich may show a death from poliomyelitis
and yet have no notification for the case).
Irrespective of the area of occurrence, births and deaths are
always referred to the area of residence for statistical purposes and
it would be logical if notifications of infectious diseases were similarly
treated.
The total number of Infectious Diseases notified under Sectio
144 of the Public Health Act, 1936, Section 192 of the Pub lic
Health (London) Act, 1936, and associated Orders and Regulations
was 762. Under the Public Health (Tuberculosis) Regulations,
1952, there were 86 notifications, giving a consolidated total of 848
cases notified during the year. In 4 of these cases the diagnoses
were not confirmed, thus giving a corrected figure of 844. The
following table indicates the figures for the previous ten years:—