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21
Diphtheria Prevention.
The remarkable fall in the number of cases of diphtheria which
has taken place in recent years would not appear to be due entirely
to prophylactic measures, although protection has been available
free to all in Lambeth since 1928 but has not been accepted to
any appreciable extent. In the four quarters of 1938 the cases
notified numbered 109, 148, 165 and 187. The corresponding
numbers for the next year, 1939, were 81, 67, 39 and 19. The
intensive Government campaign began in the spring of 1943, and
the numbers for the quarters of that year were 26, 27, 27 and 11.
Since then the highest figure for any quarter was in the third of
1945, when it rose to 17. The fall from the peak figure of 187 in
the fourth quarter of 1938 to 19 in the fourth quarter of 1939
happened almost entirely before war was declared, and the incidence
remained below that of the mid year, 1939, for the four years
which followed before the Government campaign began. The
graph for London follows much the same line as the Lambeth
pattern.
5 years and
Under over, but Total
5 years under 15 years
Number of children who completed
the full immunisation
course between 1st
January and 30th June,
1945 595 (699) 274 (548) 869 (1,247)
Number of children who completed
the full immunisation
course between 1st
July and 31st December,
1945 953 (334) 204 (21) 1,157 (355)
The number immunised during the year, 2,026, while greater
than the previous year, is still not sufficient to maintain the position,
since the births numbered 3,219.
It is, however, a fact that every death from diphtheria in Lambeth
was of a child whom the parents had failed to protect.
Vaccination.
For many years no legal compulsion has been used in Lambeth,
and in fact vaccination has been purely voluntary. The difficulty
(luring the year has been to arrange vaccination for those who
desired it rather than the reverse.