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REPORT ON SCHICK TESTING aND IMMUNISATION TREATMENT AGAINST
DIPHTHERIiA, 1959.
Weekly clinics for this purpose were held from the beginning
of January until the middle of August, but had to be discontinued
owing to the outbreak of hostilities in September. They were not
started again until January, 1940. The clinics were held as usual
at the Council's Maternity and Child Welfare Centres and at the
Westminster Health Society's Centre.
During the year 128 new casus were dealt with as compared
with 223 and 254 in 1938 and 1937 respectively.
New cases attended the Centres as follows:-
Ebury Bridge
22
Bessborough Street
35
Marshall Street
33
Westminster Health Society.
38
128
During the first two months of the year alum precipitated
toxoid was tried for immunisation in place of toxoid antitoxin
mixture which had been previously used, two injections only with
an interval of a month being given instead of the three weekly
injections given with toxoid antitoxin mixture. The use of this
prophylactic was discontinued owing to the greater difficulty of
obtaining attendances after a month's interval, and the difficulty
of complete reassurance of the mothers about the more marked local
reaction and the noc.ule produced in the tissues as a result.
Toxoid antitoxin floccules was then tried and has been continued
since, proving entirely satisfactory, the reaction in the older
child being less than with toxoid antitoxin mixture, and the
proportion of negative reactors four to six months after three
weekly injections being just as high.
The preliminary Schick test was only done on older children
or for some special reason in particular cases. Treatment was
carried out without difficulty end with satisfactory results. The
following table shows the age groups of those treated end the results
of such preliminary tests as were performed:-
Ages
Preliminary Schick Test
Positive
Negative
No
Test
Total
Under 5 years - 1 77 78
5 to 10 years 1 3 40 44
Over 10 years 1 1 4 6
Totals 2 5 121 128
The one child under five years whose preliminary tost was
negative had had diphtheria. Two of those between five and ten
whose preliminary test was negative had had diptheria, one of them
being stated to have had the disease twice.
67 cases who had previously been treated were retested during
the, year; one of these was a positive reactor end was given further
immunisation treatment.