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SECTION 1.
INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Since the early days of Public Health administration the incidence of
infectious disease has been accepted as a measure of the efficiency of the
service. This outlook is changing because the effective control of many
infectious diseases is now accepted, and advances in chemotherapy have
rendered these diseases less menacing.
The incidence of diphtheria has strikingly fallen in recent years and this
must be attributed to the large numbers of immunised children in the
community. Among diseases more commonly met with in years gone
by—puerperal sepsis, pneumonia, scarlet fever and erysipelas—all assume
less importance to-day because the serious complications which might
follow are now more easily prevented by modern therapy. Freedom from
typhoid and cholera has become assured by the present day purity of
water supplies and the efficiency of our sewerage systems. The modern
use of insecticides such as D.D.T. has limited the risk of spread of infection
by fleas or lice and as a result typhus and plague are to-day mainly
of historical interest. Smallpox can be effectively dealt with by vaccination
which, alas, has fallen off in recent years thus increasing the potential
danger to the public by a growing unprotected community.
The most important infectious disease in our midst is pulmonary
tuberculosis, though hopeful signs of its ultimate control are evident.
Tuberculous meningitis at one time almost always fatal in children has been
rendered, with the aid of chemotherapy, a curable disease. Pasteurisation
of milk has done much to reduce the number of cases of non-pulmonary
tuberculosis.
Mass miniature radiography is an important weapon in the fight against
the spread of tuberculosis and a valuable aid to the detection of early
signs of the disease and therefore to the commencement of treatment at
a very early stage with the resultant decrease in the time subsequently
taken by the patient to return to normal activity.
Most of us have natural powers of resistance high enough to overcome
any infection we normally meet in mingling with crowds in the streets,
public transport vehicles, places of entertainment and elsewhere, but
tuberculosis of the lungs is an insidious disease and its early symptoms
are vague. Because of the importance of early diagnosis and treatment
of unsuspected cases, the Mass X-ray Unit has been made available,
free, to the general public. Eight million people have been examined by
the 57 mass miniature radiography units in the country.
The procedure consists of taking an X-ray photograph which is subsequently
examined by an expert, who, if he finds abnormality, communicates
the fact in strict confidence to the examinee only.
The Mass X-ray Unit from the North West Metropolitan Regional
Hospital Board visited Hornsey in March for a period of two weeks.
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