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During the year some 352 certificates of persons proceeding
abroad were so authenticated, of these 301 were in respect of Smallpox,
25 for Cholera, 25 for Typhoid and 1 for Typhus. Six vaccinations
and 1 inoculation for T.A.B. and 1 for Typhus were actually
carried out by your Medical Officer of Health.
Measles.—The normal biennial fluctuation was evident in the
sharp decrease in the number of notified cases from a figure of 1,684
confirmed in 1955 to 44 for the current year.
Five cases occurred in children under one year of age, 37
between one and ten years and 2 between 15 and 25 years.
One case was removed to hospital and there were no deaths.
The distribution of the cases was as follows :—East Greenwich
19 ; West Greenwich 2 ; Charlton and Kidbrooke 23.
During 1954 28 cases were recorded and in 1953 there were 560.
Whooping Cough.—Altogether 122 notifications were received
in 1956, a decrease of 43 from the previous year. The year 1954
produced 223 and there were 235, 190, and 384, respectively for the
years 1953, 1952 and 1951.
Area distribution for the present period was :—East Greenwich
38 ; West Greenwich 15 ; St. Nicholas, Deptford, 3 ; Charlton and
Kidbrooke 66.
One case was admitted to hospital and there were no fatalities.
During the year, 761 children under 5 years were immunised
against Whooping Cough at the County Council's clinics.
Diphtheria.—There was a Nil return recorded for the current
year compared with one for 1955.
One case was confirmed in 1954 ; there was none in 1953 ; 4 in
1952 ; and a nil return was recorded for 1951.
Since 1945, diphtheria notifications for England and Wales
have fallen from 18,596 to 63, the figure for the current year. Over
the same period deaths have decreased from 722 to 8.
While present progress affords reason for satisfaction to all who
have worked unremittingly to bring about the elimination of
diphtheria, it must again be emphasised that there is an inherent
danger in that freedom from this disease may lead to apathy towards
immunisation, which, in turn, could give rise to recrudescence.