Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Paddington, Metropolitan Borough of]
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Average number of microbes per ml. Colonies counted on agar after 20-24 | |
hrs. at 37 deg. C. | 2.5 |
Bac. Coli absent in 100 ml | 98.8% |
Average Bac. Coli count per 100 ml. | 0.1 |
These results are satisfactory. |
Diphtheria Immunisation—Five hundred and eighty-two children were fully inoculated and 279 partly inoculated.
Of the 582 fully inoculated cases, 60 were school children. At the end of the year it was estimated that 48.0%
of the child population under 5 years of age, and 61.9% between the ages of 5 and 15 years, were immunised.
Eleven children were immunised at the Clinic at St. .Mary's Hospital.
Whooping Cough Inoculation.— During the year 261 children were completed inoculated, and at the end of the
year there remained 160 cases where inoculation had not been completed. The total number of inoculations given
was 1,268.
Vaccination.— The latest return available is for the year 1943. This shows that of the 2,187 children whose births
were registered during that year, 58.6% were successfully vaccinated, and 10.7% were exempted on production
of statutory declarations. Insusceptibility, removals, not traced, etc., account for the remaining 30.7%
Tuberculosis.
Notification Register.— New cases comprised 233 of pulmonary tuberculosis and 26 of non-pulmonary tuberculosis.
The number of cases on the register at the end of the year was 842, against 772 at the end of the
previous year. The death rate for pulmonary tuberculosis was 0.82, the same as for the year 1943, and for
all forms of tuberculosis the death rate was 0.90 (1943—0.87).
Dispensary Treatment.—As from the 1st April the grant to St. Mary's Hospital was reduced by £300,
and a part of the district served by the Tuberculosis Dispensary there was transferred to the Paddington
Dispensary. On the 30th September the Dispensary at St. Mary's Hospital closed down entirely, and thereafter
the whole of the Borough was served bv the Paddintrton Tuberculosis Dispensary, 14-18. Newton Road.
Particulars of the work carried out are shown in the following tables:—
Paddington T uberculosis Dispensary | St. Mary's Hospital T uberculosis Dispensary (Up to 30th September) | |
---|---|---|
– |
Tuberculosis Care Committee.—The Care Committee appointed by the Borough Council ceased to function
on the outbreak of war, and has not been reconstituted, but in December, 1943, the Paddington Tuberculosis
Dispensary formed a small Care Committee at the request of the Council. It is comprised of members of
the Dispensary Committee and Staff, together with two members of the Borough Council. Miss Milner,
the Secretary-Almoner of the Dispensary, has undertaken the Secretaryship. The Care Committee has a
small Samaritan fund at its disposal, and during the year under review help was given in six cases. Other
cases were referred to appropriate charitable organisations.
Maintenance Allowances.—The scheme for payment of allowances to people who have to give up remunerative
employment in order to undergo treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis was introduced as a war-time measure
in July, 1943, and up to the end of 1944, 245 Paddington patients had applied for allowances, all of whom
were certified by the Tuberculosis Officer as being medically eligible for the allowances. The scheme is the
most important social measure yet taken in connection with the anti-tuberculosis campaign, but the general
feeling throughout the country is that it should be extended to include patients suffering from any form of
tuberculosis, and in any of its stages. In May, 1944, the Council requested the Metropolitan Boroughs'
Standing Joint Committee to make representations to the Minister of Health with this object in view. The
Minister, in his reply, stated that he was unable to extend the scheme, and that any improved arrangements
necessary for the treatment of tuberculosis generally must be dealt with as part of the National Health
Service, and could not he anticipated by emergency arrangements made on account of war services.