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It should "be "borne in mind that the number of deaths
involved is now very small - only 28 in 1951 - and there are
inevitably appreciable fluctuations from year to year.
Epidemic diseases -
Measles - incidence heavy; mortality low - only 24 deaths.
Whooping cough - incidence average; mortality low - 25 deaths.
Scarlet fever - incidence low; mortality low - (there were
2 deaths from scarlet fever and streptococcal sore throat).
Diphtheria - incidence very low; only one death registered.
Typhoid fever - incidence average; no deaths.
Infantile diarrhoea - incidence below average; mortality
much below average - 44 deaths.
Poliomyelitis - incidence low; mortality low - 3 deaths.
Diphtheria has been overcome as a killer of children,
thanks to the immunisation campaign. Pre-war, there were 7,500
cases a year and 250 deaths. In 1951, there were only just over
30 cases and one death. 60 per cent. of infants under the age of
5 are immunised, and at school ages the percentage reaches 75.
Continuance of this happy state of affairs depends on the maintenance
of the level of immunisation.
The infantile diarrhoeal death rate is the lowest ever
recorded.
Fortunately the incidence of poliomyelitis in 1951 was
much lower than in 1949 and 1950.
Tuberculosis - The notifications of new cases have again
fallen, from 5,718 to 5,476, and there has been a slight further
decline in the death rate. The provisional death rate for 1951 is
0.38 per 1,000 - a new low record - compared with 0.40 in 1950.
Fatal road accidents caused 303 deaths (provisional
figure). This is an increase on 1950 when there were 245 deaths.
Cancer caused some 7,600 deaths. The provisional death
rate was 2.28 per 1,000 and this can be compared with 2.20 in 1950,
(an exact comparison cannot be made until precise figures of reallocation
of registrations by residence (which at present have
only been estimated) have been furnished by the Registrar-General;
a substantial number of patients from outside London die within the
County).
B. GENERAL STATISTICS.
Ante-natal, post-natal and infant clinics - Attendances
at ante-natal and post-natal clinics average 4,000 a week and at
infant clinics 17,600 a week.
45 per cent. of expectant mothers attend the Council's
clinics and 85 per cent. of the children under 1 year of age attend.
Health visitors paid about 886,000 home visits during the
year.
Under the Council's Domiciliary Midwifery Scheme 12,800
mothers wore attended in their confinements.
During the year home helps attended 27,000 households.
About 2,300 were confinement cases, the rest illness.
Home nurses provided by the Council through the agency
of the District Nursing Associations paid about 1,450,000 visits.
The Ambulance Service during the year surpassed all
previous records, the number of patients conveyed by directly
provided and agency services exceeding 750,000, involving a
mileage of over 5,550,000. By improved organisation more patients
per mile have been conveyed than formerly. These figures include
88,000 emergency calls as against the previous year's figure of
84,000.
5th January, 1952.