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Particulars of age groups and districts affected are shown in
the table at the end of this Report.
National Insurance Act, 1946.—From time to time it is
necessary for the Medical Officer of Health to insist that a suspected
'carrier' of, or a person in contact with, an infectious disease should
be precluded from working in order that the risk of transmission
of the disease is minimised. This is especially necessary when the
person concerned is a ' food handler.'
Regulation 3(b) of the National Insurance (Unemployment
and Sickness Benefit) Regulations, 1948, made under the above
Act, enables any person so excluded to claim sickness benefit on
production of a certificate issued by the Medical Officer of Health.
In the Ministry of Health Circular 115/48 it has been suggested
that the Medical Officer of Health should be prepared to furnish
such a certificate if, in his opinion, circumstances are such that this
action becomes necessary.
During the current year it was unnecessary to issue any
certificates but 3 were furnished in 1959, none in 1958 and 1 in 1957.
Smallpox.—There were no cases notified during the year, but
a number of contacts were reported arriving in the Borough from
abroad, and these were kept under observation for the requisite
period.
Public Health (Smallpox Prevention) Regulations, 1917.—These
Regulations give a Medical Officer of Health power to vaccinate or
re-vaccinate without charge, any contacts of Smallpox cases willing
to submit themselves for treatment.
Vaccination.—Smallpox is a very dangerous and disfiguring
disease and prior to the introduction of compulsory vaccination in
1853, nine-tenths of smallpox victims were children under 5 years of
age. Subsequent to this period, children, by and large, escaped.
However, since 1898, when the 'conscientious objection' clause
made its appearance, vaccinations have declined steeply and the
position deteriorated still further from 1948 when vaccination
became optional.
Glycerinated calf lymph is the standard vaccine used in this
country and the number of vaccinations carried out in the Borough
at the County Council clinics during 1960 was 539. This is a
decrease of 173 from that of the previous year.
In Greenwich during the last 10 years 13,188 births have been
registered, and for the same period only 6,891 vaccinations have
been effected, a figure equivalent to 52.2%.