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Advice was sought from the medical staff of the department in respect of two patients suffering from
a rash of a type where it was desirable to exclude smallpox as a possible cause. These cases were subsequently
diagnosed as chicken pox.
The last reference concerned an Islington resident who was a member of the staff of the outpatients
department of a hospital in another borough where a female who had arrived from Hong Kong attended
with spots and sores - thought to be possible smallpox. Subsequently, the diagnosis of smallpox was •
excluded.
CERTIFICATES OF VACCINATION AND INOCULATION
Applications for authentication dealt with by the Medical Officer of Health numbered 4,269 as
against 4,243 for the previous year.The applications comprised requests for authentication of international
certificates of vaccination and inoculation against smallpox, yellow fever, cholera, etc., and constituted a
substantial item of work.

There were no outbreaks to be reported in accordance with Memo 188 Med. of the Ministry of Health.
LEAD POISONING
There were two references to the department on this subject during the year.
The first concerned a six-years-old girl who was diagnosed as a case of lead poisoning at a hospital in
1970 but who had failed to attend the clinic since then. The senior public health inspector visited the premises
and found that the internal painting had been carried out with a lead free paint, and it was presumed
that the original paintwork before re-decoration may have been responsible.
The other case referred to a four-years-old boy reported by a hospital as having a raised blood lead
level. Domiciliary enquiries were carried out, and a series of samples submitted to the public analyst for
examination were reported as being within the normal accepted standards. No evidence of lead was found in
this family's flat during a subsequent visit by the inspector, and there were no toys or other articles in the
flat which could be suspected of having a lead content.
CHOLERA
There were only 7 sporadic references to the department during 1972 for the supervision of possible
cholera contacts who had arrived in this country from declared endemic or locally infected cholera areas as
against 250 in 1971 when a number of cases were discovered in the Barcelona and Valencia areas of
Spain.
All were kept under observation for the 5-day surveillance period.
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