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INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Notifications of infectious diseases for the years 1938-1958 are shown in table V.5,
page 25; those for certain such diseases by age and sex for the 13 four-weekly periods
of the year 1958 are given in table V.6, page 26 ; and deaths from infectious disease are
included in table V.3, page 23.
There were 19 deaths under the age of two years from diarrhoea and enteritis
compared with 24 in the previous year. This represents a rate of 0.35 per 1,000 live births
and shows a continuation of the low figures of recent years.
Diarrhicea and
enteritis
The number of notifications of diphtheria during the year was higher than in 1957.
This was largely due to an outbreak in Finsbury, beginning in late September. A boy
had a mild sore throat from which a virulent diphtheria bacillus was later grown
Energetic steps were taken locally, particularly in the three schools attended by family
contacts. Widespread swabbing was carried out and this was followed by immunisation
or re-immunisation of children in these schools. These measures brought to light a
number of healthy carriers and these account for most of the notifications. All cases
with symptoms had such a mild illness as to give rise to great difficulty in diagnosis
This was fortunatelv almost entirelv a bacteriological epidemic.
Diphtheria
Two deaths from diphtheria were registered during the year. One was a girl or
9 years with a history of nephritis, who developed laryngeal diphtheria for which
tracheotomy was performed. She was said to have been immunised in infancy, and
received a boosting dose of TAF in January, 1956. In view of the circumstances all
children given TAF on the same day as this child in 1956 were Schick tested, and all
were found to be Schick negative. Swabbing of school contacts of this girl resulted in
two healthy carriers being discovered. The other death was that of a woman aged
26 years. Consideration of the circumstances of her fatal illness leaves the diagnosis
of diphtheria in much doubt ; all swabs, and also those from contacts, were negative.
There was a marked increase in notifications to 4,502 compared with 2,356 in the
previous year although incidence was not so high as in the record epidemic year of 1956.
Highest incidence was located mainly in a compact group of boroughs in the eastcentral
part of London. Once more the proportion of notifications in children of school
age diminished ; this proportion had reached its highest level during the epidemic of
1956.
Dysentery
JNotihcations or enteric tever totalled compared with 47 in ly57. Ail
sporadic cases, and there were no local outbreaks.
were Enteric fever
After the unusual events of 1957 influenza assumed the more usual seasonal pattern influenza
during 1958. Mortality was below average.

For the second consecutive year no cases of leptospirosis were reported among the Leptospirosis
Council's sewer workers.
The year 1958 was an inter-epidemic year, and the last period of this year saw the Measles
beginning of the 1959 epidemic. The total number of cases in 1958 was higher than in
1956 or 1954 but not unusually high for inter-epidemic years by the standards of previous
years.
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