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27
Exclusion from Work of Contacts or Carriers of Infectious Diseases.
If with a view to preventing the spread of a notifiable infectious disease, or certain other diseases
as provided in Section 26 of the London County Council (General Powers) Act, 1959, a Medical Officer
of Health for a borough requests in writing a person to discontinue his employment, the Borough
Council are empowered by the Act, if they think fit, to compensate such person for any loss occasioned
by his compliance with the request. Similarly, both by Regulations made under the National Insurance
Act, 1946, and the Public Health Disease Regulations, 1953, persons may be excluded from work and
qualify for National Health Sickness benefit if in the opinion of the Medical Officer they are contacts
or carriers. These provisions apply particularly to food handlers in shops, to cooks, kitchen hands
and others employed in cafes, canteens and restaurants and to persons in charge of young children.
During the year three certificates were issued in this connection.
International Certificates of Vaccination.
Travellers to most countries abroad have to produce evidence of recent vaccination against
certain prescribed diseases. For this purpose an international certificate of vaccination is used in
respect of smallpox, cholera and yellow fever. Methods of protection previously known as
" inoculation " are now described internationally as vaccination.
Under the terms of Ministry of Health circulars Nos. 60/48 and 20/52 the Medical Officer of Health
is required to authenticate the signatures on certificates issued by doctors practising within his district
During the year, signatures on 5,420 of these certificates were authenticated.
Bacteriological Examinations.
Table 28, page 40, shows the number of specimens examined for the purposes of diagnosis and also
indicates the organisms in relation to which the examinations were made.