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34
PART 2
COMMUNICABLE DISEASES
During the year, 1,173 notifications were received compared
with 1,207 in 1971. The total number of confirmed cases of
notifiable disease, arranged in age groups and the areas in
which they occurred is shown in Tables 6 and 7 which follow.
A commentary on the notifications is given below.
Vaccination and immunisation against serious infectious
diseases is an important feature of communicable disease
control and details of this personal health service will be
found in Part 4 of the Report.
Acute encephalitis
Only one case was reported during the year and occurred in an
eight-month-old baby. A coxsackie virus was the causative
organism.
Acute meningitis
During the year ten cases were notified, comprising three
adults and seven children, the causative organisms being:-
4 meningococcal
2 pyogenic
3 viral
1 haemophilus influenzae
The child suffering from the haemophilus influenzae infection
died following admission to hospital.
Cholera
No cases were reported during the year, but nine persons who
had returned to this country from endemic areas without valid
international certificates of vaccination were kept under
surveillance.
Dysentery
A total of 276 notifications was received and, following
bacteriological examination, 142 were confirmed.