London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Islington 1955
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Islington Borough]
This page requires JavaScript
17
From the previous tables it will be seen that the remarkable record continued, as
compared with only a few years ago, of no more than one case of diphtheria occurring
in the year in a population approaching a quarter of a million. Diphtheria is now
a rare disease, but the position can only be maintained by a continuing high level of
immunisation in children. In certain other countries where immunisation has not
been done so effectively, the level of diphtheria incidence is many times higher than
in this country, and comparable to the position here ten or fifteen years ago.
Diphtheria Cases and Immunisation state 1947-1955 (inclusive)
| Year | Immunised | Non-Immunised | Unknown | Total | Deaths | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age Groups | Age Groups | |||||||||
| 0—5 | 5—15 | 15 + | 0—5 | 5—15 | 15 + | |||||
| 1955 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | Nil | |
| 1954 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | Nil | |
| 1953 | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | 1 | Nil | |
| 1952 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1951 | 1 | 2 | — | 8 | 5 | 1 | — | 17 | 7 years—Not immunised | |
| 1950 | _ | 5 | _ | 3 | 7 | 4 | _ | 19 | 7 years—Not immunised | |
| 1949 | 1 | 3 | — | 2 | 8 | 3 | — | 17 | 4 years | Not immunised |
| 6 years | ||||||||||
| 1948 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | — | 2 | _ | 7 | Nil | |
| 1947 | — | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 19 | 16 years—Not immunised | |
| Totals | 3 | 17 | 2 | 16 | 24 | 16 | 4 | 82 | 5 deaths (Noneimmunised) | |
| 22 | 56 | |||||||||
No. of Islington Children Immunised against Diphtheria—1939-1953
| 1939 | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 525 | 89 | 3,261 | 5,734 | 6,321 | 3,165 | 3,688 | 3,425 | 4,563 | 5,387 | 3,185 | 2.604 | 3.073 | 3.019 | 2,654 |
Diphtheria Immunisation, 1955
Dr. B. E. A. Sharpe, Divisional Medical Officer, London County Council, has
kindly supplied the following figures in respect of Islington children for the current
year.
As immunity tends to wane with the passage of time, the Immunity Index
relates only to children who have been inoculated during the last 5 years. This is
consonant with the Immunity Index given by the Ministry of Health.
Age at 31.12. 55 Under 1 1—4 5—9 10—14 Under 15
i.e. born in year 1955 1954-511950-46 1945-41 Total
Last complete course (whether
primary or boost) 1951-55 267 8,367 7,273 2,516 18,423
Mid-year population 3,990 13,110 28,700 45,800
Immunity Index 6.7 63.8 34.1 40.2