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became widespread during the war when there was much massing of
children for evacuation, and crowding in shelters. The clear and
persuasive broadcasts of Sir Wilson Jameson, then Chief Medical Officer
of the Ministry of Health, were largely responsible for the general adopt ion
of immunization. In the country generally in 1925 there were 47,684
cases of Diphtheria notified and 2,774 deaths; in 1938 65,008 notified
cases and 2,931 deaths; in 1946 11,601 notified and 455 deaths. The
provisional figures for 1951 are 699 notified cases and 34 deaths. Much
attention has been given to german measles and whooping cough. As
regards the former it is because of the alleged influence on malformations
of the child when the mother is infected during the first three months of
pregnancy. Whooping cough remains still an infection of high incidence
among young children leading sometimes to serious consequent
respiratory complications. Some useful work has been done in cooperation
with the Westminster Children's Hospital in furthering
preventive measures among contacts by means of chemical antibiotics.
As in 1950 there was one death from whooping cough in infants of under
one year of age. There were 1,018 notifications of measles but no deaths.
The Registrar General's mid-year estimate of population at 30th June
1951 was 100,000 all ages, a slight decline throughout on the estimate for
1950. When the Registrar General published his preliminary report of the
Census in 1951, the persons enumerated were 98,895. The birth rate at
12-35 has risen from 11-9 last year, but this is due to the decline in total
population as estimated by the Registrar General. The actual number
of births has fallen from 1,251 to 1,235, the fall among illegitimate births
being most notable. Infantile mortality was 34 per 1,000 births compared
with 35.17 last year but there was a greater mortality among illegitimate
infants. The general death rate at 11.87 compares with 10.16 in 1950.
As already mentioned more citizens died of respiratory diseases but
deaths from cancer were fewer, 241 in 1950 compared with 232 in 1951.
Cancer of the lung however claimed more victims, 42 as compared with 35
in 1950, the increase being confined to males. There are some grounds for
believing that cancer of the lung and air passages is more common in
industrial areas subjected to considerable atmospheric pollution, for in
some areas in these islands where the country is largely agricultural,
cancer of the lung seems to be considerably less common. There were no
deaths from confinements or conditions associated with childbirth.
As regards notifications of infectious disease, there was, as expected,
a much larger incidence of notified cases of measles, 1,018 compared with
356 in 1950, and 685 in 1949. In spite of this large incidence there were
no deaths from measles. There were four cases of poliomyelitis and
polioencephalitis and no deaths. Tuberculosis shows a small increase
in the total number of cases notified, but slightly fewer deaths. The
recent tuberculosis regulations have rather shifted the responsibilities of
the local sanitary authorities and placed them on the local health
authority, the London County Council. The net result is that notification
as an instrument of engaging the services of the local sanitary authority
on behalf of the patient has been restricted.
In this Report the various activities of the department are reported