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
Islington 1951
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Islington Borough]
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the middle of 1951, when the measles cases decreased rapidly and remained low for
the rest of the year. Children of different ages were affected as shown in the following
table :—
Measles, 1951.
| 5 vears and | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1 year | I—5 years | upwards | |
| No. of Notifications | 166 | 2,038 | 995 |
| Percentage of total notifications | 5.2 | 63.7 | 31.1 |
| No. of Deaths | 1 | 2 | — |
| Fatality Rates (per thousand) | 6.0 | 0.98 | — |
It was only in the most exceptional circumstances that measles cases were
removed to hospital.
Whooping Cough, 1951.
| 5 years and | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1 year | 1 —5 years | upwards | |
| No. of Notifications | 96 | 627 | 345 |
| Percentage of total notifications | 9 | 58.7 | 32.3 |
| No. of Deaths | — | — | — |
It will be noted that 9 per cent, of whooping cough cases were under the age
of one year and this is a particularly distressing illness for infants. Fortunately there
were no deaths due to whooping cough during the year, but nevertheless both
whooping cough and measles may be responsible for long continued respiratory
catarrh which may be debilitating to the child for a very considerable period. It
is therefore to be expected that many parents will desire to take advantage of whooping
cough inoculation, although the benefit from this cannot be so certain at present
as in the case of protection against diphtheria.