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INFECTIOUS DISEASES
The notification rates and death-rates of the principal infectious diseases in
London are shown in Tables 3, 4 and 9 (pages 231/2, 6): Table 3 shows both rates
for the constituent Metropolitan Boroughs in 1956; Table 4 shows death rates sincc
1906 for the County as a whole; and Table 9, notification rates for the County sincc
1934. In order to preserve uniformity with national statistics the notification figures
used in this section of the report have been corrected as far as possible to take account
of changes of diagnosis made after the original notifications had been received (see
footnote to Table 9). Table 10 (p. 237) shows, in age groups, the distribution over the
year of the notifications of the following—dysentery, measles, meningococcal infection,
pneumonia, poliomyelitis, scarlet fever and whooping cough. It should be noted that
the total in this Table, being for 52 weekly periods and not adjusted for final late
corrections of diagnosis, will not correspond with the yearly corrected totals in Table 9.
Anthrax
There was one notification of anthrax in 1956. It related to a man of 46 who worked
in a tannery. He developed a malignant pustule on the side of his neck. The diagnosis
of anthrax was confirmed bacteriologically. Treatment in hospital with pencillin was
followed by recovery in four weeks.
Diarrhoea
and
enteritis
There were 20 deaths from diarrhoea and enteritis under the age of two years,
compared with 27 in the previous year. This represents a rate of 0.38 per 1,000 live
births, which shows a continuation of the low figures of recent years. The change that
has occurred in this disease in the last 29 years can be shown by the comparison of the
rate of 0.38 per 1,000 births in 1956 with the corresponding rate of 4.1 in 1946 and
14.5 in 1936, see diagram below. Improved social and economic conditions have combined
with better treatment to produce the marked reduction in mortality from this
cause.
DEATHS FROM DIARRHOEA
AND ENTERITIS (UNDER TWO YEARS)
21