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10
Infectious Diseases.
The notifications of infectious diseases received during the year
numbered 1157 (excluding Tuberculosis) as follows
Scarlet fever 127: Diphtheria 102: Enteric Fever 2: Paratyphoid Fever 1:
Puerperal Fever 3: Puerperal pyrexia 2: Cerebro-spinal fever 22:
Measles 478: Whooping cough 257: Dysentory 7: Epidemic Diarrhoea 1:
Acute primary and influenzal pneumonia 110: Ophthalmia neonatorum 1:
Erysipelas 44. 24 deaths due to infectious disease were recorded:Diphtheria
4: Enteric Fever 2: Cerebro-spinal fever 1: measles 1:
Whooping cough 5: Pneumonia 11.
Diphtheria Immunisation:-
Immunisation against diphtheria was carried out in the Council's
Diphtheria Immunisation Clinic and by general practitioners in accordance
with the Council's Scheme for Doctors. Owing to the large number
of children accommodated in the large air raid shelters in the Borough
it was considered desirable to provide immunisation facilities in an
easily accessible hall and some 55 children and 16 adults were given
innoculations. To ensure the efficiency of the innoculations carried
out in London County Council Schools by the County Council's School
Medical Officers arrangements were made for the Post Schnick Testing
of a number of children. The number proving Schick-positive proved
to be under 1% and these were referred back for further injections.
Pneumonia.
The treatment of pneumonia by the drug "M & B 693" provided by the
Council in necessitous cases has been continued throughout the year.
An examination of the results achieved has provided some interesting
facts. In the period under review the total number of cases treated was
19, of which 8 were males and 11 females. 3 of the patients were
children under one year of age, the average age being 7 months. 6
patients were over one and under 10 years of age, the average age being
7 years, whilst 10 adults, average age 59 also received treatment.
The types of pneumonia dealt with were various, 2 being acute
Primary; 3 Broncho; 8 Influenza; 5 Lobar and one undefined.
Of the patients treated, 2 of the adults subsequently died, but in
one of these instances, the secondary cause of death was cerebral
haemorrhage. The average number of days Pyrexia was 4, whilst the
temperature fell in 12 cases by crisis and 6 by lysis, whilst in one
instance no information is given in the reports of General Practitioners
attending patients.
It was shown that the Doctors were of the opinion that in 10 instances,
the duration of the illness was considerably short, whilst
in 6 cases the Doctors reported that they were of the opinion that the
illness had been considerably shortened and severity lessened.
Complications arising from the use of M. & B. 693 were few, only in
4 cases was slight sickness reported after administration. One patient,
a man of 74, complained of dryness of the mouth and refused further
treatment, but he ultimately recovered. Severe vomiting occurred In one
case and this was due to the parent disregarding the Doctor's instructions
and giving the patient, a child of 4 years, an egg; the vomiting which
persisted for half a day, subsided later.
It would appear from all these reports that the administration of
M & B 693 has been most satisfactory and obviously justifies the continuance
of the Council's scheme for the supply of M & B 693 in
necessitous cases where the patients are unable to afford the cost of
this treatment.