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 1959
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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Ophthalmia neonatorum—There was an increase in the number of notifications from 132
in 1958 to 161 in 1959—the rate (per 1,000 registered live births) changing from 1-99 to
2.53. Cases among children born to London residents totalled 99—the same as in the
previous year: in 83 vision was unimpaired, 12 removed and the remaining four were still
under treatment at the end of the year.
Poliomyelitis—There was an increase in the number of notifications of poliomyelitis
from 107 in 1958 to 210 in 1959. Of the total, 59 (38 paralytic) were notified in Islington
giving that borough a level of incidence higher than that experienced generally in London
in the great epidemic of 1947. This is a salutary warning to those who may be tempted to
claim too soon that poliomyelitis has been conquered.
An unexpected finding was the relatively high proportion of cases occurring in the 0-4
age group. As may be seen from table(x), in 1959 this was 51.4 per cent, whereas in recent
years it has tended to be between 30 and 40 per cent. Only once before has it risen to 50
per cent.—in 1949. The explanation of this sudden change in 1959 and 1949 is obscure,
but in 1959 it does not appear to have been due to any difference between the level of
vaccination in this age group and other age groups.
Table (x)—Poliomyelitis notifications by age, 1949-59
| Year | 0-4 years | 5-14 years | 15 years and over | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | |
| 1949 | 356 | 53.3 | 173 | 25.9 | 139 | 20.8 | 668 |
| 1950 | 150 | 34.9 | 149 | 34.6 | 131 | 30.5 | 430 |
| 1951 | 27 | 24.1 | 45 | 40.2 | 40 | 35.7 | 112 |
| 1952 | 95 | 30.7 | 105 | 340 | 109 | 35.3 | 309 |
| 1953 | 116 | 350 | 104 | 31.3 | 112 | 33.7 | 332 |
| 1954 | 42 | 33.6 | 41 | 32.8 | 42 | 33.6 | 125 |
| 1955 | 334 | 34.8 | 391 | 40.7 | 235 | 24.5 | 960 |
| 1956 | 88 | 31.5 | 115 | 41.2 | 76 | 27.3 | 279 |
| 1957 | 103 | 31.8 | 131 | 40.4 | 90 | 27.8 | 324 |
| 1958 | 40 | 37.4 | 36 | 33.6 | 31 | 29.0 | 107 |
| 1959 | 108 | 51.4 | 66 | 31.4 | 36 | 17.2 | 210 |
Every notification in respect of London residents in 1959 was followed up in two
directions. First, the divisional medical officer provided details of the past history of
poliomyelitis vaccination and of recent inoculations with other prophylactics. Secondly,
the hospitals provided details of the clinical history and of virological examinations.
Table (xii) gives the results of virological examinations in hospitals excluding four outcounty
notifications. It will be seen that virological examination was part of the diagnostic
routine at all but one of the main receiving hospitals. With one exception all the polio
virus findings were of type I. The exception was a case with encephalitic illness from which
poliomyelitis virus type III was isolated: other viruses isolated included Echo 4 (two cases)
and Coxsackie B.4 (one case).
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