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SECTION 2
INFECTIOUS DISEASES AND
TUBERCULOSIS
INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Under Section 144 of the Public Health Act, medical practitioners are
required to notify the Medical Officer of Health of the occurrence of a
case of notifiable infectious disease in the district. Other diseases may be
declared to- be notifiable by the Minister of Health or the local authority.
Control of the spread of infectious disease involves:—
Notification.
Bacteriological examination.
Inspection of homes by the sanitary inspectors and, by arrangement
with the Area Health Service, in some cases by the health visitors.
Disinfection where necessary of premises and personal effects.
Exclusion from school of patients and child contacts and the collection
of statistics regarding each case.
Regulations authorise control in respect of dairymen patients and contacts,
and the removal home from hospital of bodies of persons who have
died from infectious diseases.
Tables showing details of notifications received appear on pages 44
and 45.
TUBERCULOSIS
The care of the tuberculous since the National Health Service Act
1946 has been divided between the Regional Hospital Board, the County
Council, and the District Council. Treatment is provided by the Hospital
Board which now controls the Chest Clinics; "after care" is the responsibility
of the County Council while the district medical officer of health
receives the notifications from medical practitioners and keeps the official
notification register. Notification is compulsory under the Public Health
(Tuberculosis) Regulations, 1930.
A table showing the numbers of patients on the notification register
appears on page 43.
LABORATORY SERVICES
The Laboratory Services are directed by the Medical Research Council
on behalf of the Ministry of Health. Pathological specimens are sent for
examination to the Central Public Health Laboratory at Colindale and
the Branch Laboratory at Coppetts Wood Hospital, Hornsey. The Public
Health Department is a collection centre for specimens submitted by
general practitioners and local authorities and supplies of containers are
obtainable between 9.0 a.m. and 5.15 p.m. (9 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Saturdays).
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