London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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London County Council 1950

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]

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67
immunisation campaign, and every effort must be made to maintain a high level of
immunity in the child population, otherwise there will be a return to the years when
many thousands of cases of diphtheria occurred every year.
Residentia
establishments
for
children in
London

1 he visiting medical officer usually undertakes the immunisation of the chi in the Council's residential establishments in London and the following details the position at 31st December, 1950.

Number of children fully immunised527
Number of children in course of being immunised42
Number of children awaiting immunisation53
Number of children awaiting parental consent70
Number of children for whom parental consent was refused24
Number of children not immunised for various other reasons68
Total number of children on the roll784

It will be seen that at the end of the year 73 per cent. of all the children then in
residence had been, or were in the process of being immunised.
Residential
establishments
for
children outside
London
The local health authority of the area in which the residential establishment is
situated is responsible for making arrangements for the immunisation against
diphtheria of the children accommodated in the Council's residential establishments
outside the administrative county and for paying the visiting medical officer the fee
of 5s. for each completed record. At the end of the year, of a total roll of 4,363, the
number of children fully immunised was 3,642 ; 85 were in course of being immunised.
118 were awaiting immunisation and 321 were awaiting parental consent. Parents had
refused consent in respect of 67 children and the remaining 130 children had not beer
immunised for various reasons. The percentage of children immunised or in process
of being immunised was 85.4 and a further 2.7 per cent. had received parental consent
Whooping Cough Immunisation
As the value of inoculation against whooping cough has not yet been fully
established, there is no comprehensive scheme in the County for this service although
a considerable amount of immunisation against whooping cough is done on request
in immunisation clinics. The total number of children inoculated at these clinics
during the year was 17,338. In addition 60 children in the Council's residential
nurseries in London and 633 in out-county establishments had been fully immunised
by the end of the year.
Experience gained in 1949 confirmed the findings of other published reports that
there was an association in certain cases between the site of paralysis in an attack of
poliomyelitis and the site of an inoculation given during the previous month, and
this association was noticed particularly with the combined diphtheria and whooping
cough antigen. When poliomyelitis reappeared in 1950, therefore, this antigen was
stopped, immunisation against diphtheria and whooping cough being carried out
separately. In areas that were heavily attacked by poliomyelitis, whooping cough
immunisation was in most cases postponed to a more favourable time. These means
appear to have been successful.
Vaccination.
Special sessions are held at infant welfare centres for vaccination. In addition,
general practitioners who so wish carry out vaccination on the Council's behalf, a
fee of 5s. being paid for completion of the medical record. Lymph is supplied free
of charge by the Ministry of Health through the Public Health Laboratory Service.