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Alongside these activities efforts were made to improve the immunisation state in the
affected schools. Subject to parental consent, combined active and passive immunisation
was given to unprotected children, and booster injections to all who had had a primary
course but had not been protected during the previous 12 months. In several schools the
immunity state had been regrettably low; thus in Moreland school only 31 per cent. in the
infants and 44 per cent. in the junior department were fully protected in May. Thanks to
the incident itself and to vigorous efforts made by the teaching staff and ourselves this had
risen by November to 100 per cent. in both departments and similar results were obtained
in other affected schools.
It is hoped to follow this up by an intensive campaign aimed to raise the immunisation
state in the primary schools throughout the division by the autumn of 1960.
Poliomyelitis—The response of the public to three different incentives to accept vaccination
against poliomyelitis was interesting. During the year the numbers of first injections
given each week ranged from 113 to 3,079. The death of Jeff Hall, the footballer, was
announced in the press on 6 April, when the weekly number of first injections was 269.
During the next three weeks the number of adolescents seeking vaccination rose progressively,
until in the week ended 25 April, 3,079 first injections were given in the Council's
clinics, and in one lunch-time session 1,112 persons were injected in two hours. Thereafter
the demand dropped and four weeks later only 693 first injections were given.
The second stimulus was a local poliomyelitis outbreak which occurred in some parts of
Islington from early May to October and mainly affected school children. There were 63
confirmed cases; of these 56 were children below the age of 15 years, 47 of whom had not
been immunised, 8 were children previously immunised with two primary and one also with
a booster injection. One adult and four children died, none of whom had been immunised.
Joint press statements were issued by Dr. V. Freeman, Medical Office of Health, Islington
and myself in which the number of notified cases was given and the public urged to seek
vaccination. The first Press statement was released on 2 June, 1959. The weekly number of
first injections then was 800; for two weeks it rose to a peak of 1,458 during one week;
thereafter there was a steady fall for 4 weeks until in the week ended 11 July only 540
persons sought protection notwithstanding the occurrence of further cases of poliomyelitis.
The stimulus to obtain protection was effective in this instance for some six weeks, and
thereafter the number of persons seeking first injections dropped to about 290 a week.
Following this local outbreak and with a view to raise the immunity state within the
community, an intensive publicity campaign was started in mid-September—the third of
the incentives mentioned above. 7,000 firms and organisations were approached in writing;
871 responded and 2,300 posters, 2,500 window and car stickers, 22,200 leaflets, 23,100
slips for wage packets were issued. There were advertisements in the local Press, cinemas
played propaganda records and short films were shown. The results of the campaign were
disappointing; the weekly number of persons seeking vaccination continued to waver
around the 300 mark until the end of October, when the numbers dropped to about 135
first injections weekly and continued at that level up to the end of the year. Although this
campaign did not produce the results hoped for it seems to have maintained the level of
takeup for rather longer than in some parts of the county where no campaign was held.
A mobile immunisation clinic was designed in the division and constructed in the Supplies
department, by converting an obsolete type of school bus. This is intended to be used
primarily for vaccination of small groups of workers in factories and offices against poliomyelitis.
It had been found impracticable to make ad hoc arrangements for vaccination for
many of these small groups on constricted or otherwise unsuitable office or workshop
premises. The mobile unit is also useful for immunisation and vaccination of small groups
of school children. In order to underline its primary role as a means of taking vaccination
against poliomyelitis to adults at work in industrial and commercial premises, the mobile
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