London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
London County Council 1958
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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Ophthalmia
neonatorum
There was a slight increase in the number of notifications from 102 in 1957 to 132 in
1958—the rate (per 1,000 live babies registered) changing from 1.69 to 1.99. Cases
among children born to London residents totalled 99—vision was unimpaired in 89,
nine removed and the remaining infant was still under treatment at the end of the year.
The figure of 107 notifications of poliomyelitis was the lowest since 1946. A point
of interest is that the figure was lower than that registered in 1938. In 1958 only 25 per
cent, of the notifications were of non-paralytic poliomyelitis, this proportion being
much lower than usual. As will be seen in table (xiv) there was a reduction in the proportion
of notifications in the 5-14 year age group with a corresponding increase in the
proportion under 5 vears.
Poliomyelitis
Table (xiv)—Poliomyelitis notifications by age, 1949-58
| 0-4 years | 5-14 years | 15 years and over | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | No. | 0/ /o | No. | o/ /o | No. | 0/0 | No. | 0/ /o |
| 1949 | 356 | 53.3 | 173 | 25.9 | 139 | 20.8 | 668 | 100.0 |
| 1950 | 150 | 34.9 | 149 | 34.6 | 131 | 30.5 | 430 | 100.0 |
| 1951 | 27 | 24.1 | 45 | 40.2 | 40 | 35.7 | 112 | 100.0 |
| 1952 | 95 | 30.7 | 105 | 34.0 | 109 | 35.3 | 309 | 100.0 |
| 1953 | 116 | 35.0 | 104 | 31.3 | 112 | 33.7 | 332 | 100.0 |
| 1954 | 42 | 33.6 | 41 | 32.8 | 42 | 33.6 | 125 | 100.0 |
| 1955 | 334 | 34.8 | 391 | 40.7 | 235 | 24.5 | 960 | 100.0 |
| 1956 | 88 | 31.5 | 115 | 41.2 | 76 | 27.3 | 279 | 100.0 |
| 1957 | 103 | 31.8 | 131 | 40.4 | 90 | 27.8 | 324 | 100.0 |
| 1958 | 40 | 37.4 | 36 | 33.6 | 31 | 29.0 | 107 | 100.0 |
Whooping
cough
In connection with the poliomyelitis vaccination scheme, detailed enquiries were
made of the final diagnosis of all notifications between 1st July and 31st December.
During this period the diagnosis of paralytic poliomyelitis was confirmed in 35 children
under the age of 15 years, 5 of whom had been vaccinated against poliomyelitis, the
remainder being unvaccinated. It was estimated that at the mid-point of the period
294,000 children were vaccinated and 361,000 unvaccinated and if these figures are used
as the populations exposed to risk the attack rates are 1.7 per 100,000 in the vaccinated
and 8.3 in the unvaccinated. In spite of this evidence of the efficacy of the vaccine in
protecting individual children, it would be unwise to assume that the low overall
incidence in 1958 was the result of the vaccination campaign. Vaccination may well
have been one of the factors responsible, but a much higher level of vaccination must
be achieved before the disease can be held in check.
There were only 1,595 notifications, this being the lowest figure since 1940. For the
second successive year only one death from this disease was recorded. Whooping cough
is notoriously under-notified and there can be no doubt that the number of cases occurring
is much greater than the notifications support. Nevertheless there is no doubt that there
has been a marked reduction in incidence during the last two years. The part played
by whooping cough immunisation in this reduced incidence and mortality remains
enigmatic.
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