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in changing attitudes and, equally important, in manifestly
altering behaviour patterns - as the result of sober presentation
of the basic facts may lead to the effective application of
similar health education techniques in relation to other unhealthy
habits such as the abuse of alcohol or drugs or addiction to
cigarette smoking.
It is indeed disheartening to record for the second year in
succession that gonorrhoea is the commonest serious infectious
disease in Wandsworth. During 1972 the number of local
residents attending special treatment clinics rose from 5,173 in
1971 to 5,466, as many as 845 of these having contracted
gonococcal infection compared with 817 in the previous year.
No fewer than one in five patients with gonorrhoea became
infected again within a year of treatment. Effective speedy
contact tracing and prompt treatment are of the essence and the
Council meets the cost of tracing contacts in relation to
Wandsworth patients attending venereal disease clinics in the
neighbouring Borough of Lambeth, there being no such special
treatment centres located in the Borough at the moment. Happily,
the number of cases of syphilis remains virtually stationary but
this is the only bright feature of a steadily darkening scene with
all its baleful implications for the quality of family life.
The picture in relation to notifiable infectious disease is
healthier, a further fall occurring in the total notifications
received which numbered 1,173 compared with 1,207 in the
previous year. It is true that the number of cases of sonne
dysentery — fortunately a mild disease, more of a nuisance than
a menace — increased from 60 in 1971 to 142 mainly attributable
to an outbreak in a primary school and adjoining residential
nursery. The incidence of measles and tuberculosis remained
virtually unchanged and there was a marked reduction in the
number of whooping cough notifications. Once again no cases
of smallpox, diphtheria or poliomyelitis were reported in
Wandsworth. However the need for continuing vigilance in this
basic public health activity of communicable disease control in
a steadily contracting globe (in terms of ease and speed of
travel) is undiminished — witness the cases of malaria and
typhoid fever imported from overseas. Incidentally this caveat
is equally applicable to the home front in view of the persistent
occurrence of quite unnecessary episodes of food poisoning.
Thus there can be no relaxing of the primary defences comprising
early detection and treatment, prompt notification, speedy
disinfection or disinfestation where indicated, the rapid followup
of contacts, and the vigilant surveillance of suspects