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Dr. Tracy and I have continued our very keen interest in the prevention of
this disease. We have followed the literature on the subject very closely, both
that of this country and, in particular, the United States of America. Response
to the offer of immunisation which had been slow at the beginning, speeded up
towards the end of the year, and in 1959 the acceptance rate amongst adolescents
has increased considerably. This was largely due to the unfortunate death from
poliomyelitis of a prominent footballer, which awakened the public to the dangers
of poliomyelitis in adult life and caused older age groups to seek the only
protection which we are as yet able to offer, that is, the Salk vaccine, be it
made in England, Canada or the United States of America. At the time of writing
this report, the supplies of the poliomyelitis vaccine are adequate. It is an
ironic thought that, had young Jeff Hall, the footballer, asked to be immunised,
it would have been refused him for he was over 26 years of age. I hope that the
Government will find it possible very shortly to increase the offer of immunisation
to all individuals up to the age of 40.
Dr. Tracy and I have done our best to secure that the expectant mother shall
seek immunisation against poliomyelitis, for to them immunisation is available
irrespective of age. We do this for two reasons - in the first place the risk
of contracting poliomyelitis appears to be increased during pregnancy and when
it does occur, it is often in a severe form. Furthermore, the immunised mother,
whether such immunity is acquired naturally or by means of vaccine, passes on to
her child such immunity as she possesses herself. Admittedly the baby loses
this immunity within the first few months of life, but so far it has not been
possible to immunise children under the age of six months. Either their capacity
to form antibodies has not yet developed sufficiently or, alternatively, the
presence of the antibodies acquired from their mothers interferes with the antibody
formation which the poliomyelitis vaccine induces in older persons. The
only protection against poliomyelitis we can therefore give to the young baby is
that which we can help it to inherit from its immunised mother. I think if mothers
realised that they were not only protecting themselves, but also their new-born
babies by securing immunisation during pregnancy, it would not be long before
all our expectant mothers asked for this protection.
Smoke Control
In my report for 1957, I reported on the first smoke control area which I
had represented in the Borough of St. Pancras. On the 27th February, 1959, the
Minister confirmed the Order, which will come into operation on the 1st September,
1959.
This has thrown a considerable volume of work upon the Public Health staff,
for notices have to be sent, and visits paid to each resident in the area concerned
who is burning other than smokeless fuel, to discuss with him and help him
in making the necessary alterations to his home. This work is proceeding satisfactorily.
In the meantime, a scheme has been prepared to make the whole of the Borough
smokeless within a limited number of years and I set out a map showing the order
in which it is proposed to represent various parts of the Borough:-
v