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Thus for instance, with regard to Smallpox, the number of people who get
this disease twice in a lifetime is infinitesimally small. This was true in England
in pre-vaccination days when England was riddled with Smallpox. It is, I believe,
true in those countries today where it is prevalent. It is, therefore, quite in
accordance with the principles I have set out above that something has been found
which does give immunity against Smallpox, which is of course an infectious
disease.
As I have shown elsewhere immunisation against Diphtheria is simply
wonderful; at the other end of the scale immunisation against the common cold
is by no means successful, and between these two extremes there are diseases in an
intermediate class so far as immunisation is concerned.
SKIN DISEASES.
Question:—I am always afraid of my children catching some skin
disease. Is this likely to happen in Barking?
Answer:—As a matter of fact the answer is " No Compared with a generation
ago Ringworm is uncommon. There were only 9 cases of Ringworm of the head
and 13 cases of Ringworm of the body which came to our notice during the year
and I think we see most of these cases.
As I have said elsewhere Scabies is getting less frequent. For the three
previous years we were seeing about 250 cases a year; in 1947 we saw but 110 cases.
Regarding the masses of scabs and sores which doctors call Impetigo, the
figures fell from 401 in 1945 to 257 in 1946 and down to as low as 138 in 1947.
Question:—Should we have special Hospitals set aside for diseases of
the skin, for out-patients as well as in-patients?
Answer:—There are, of course, special Hospitals for skin diseases, but this
is not entirely satisfactory because the skin is one of the organs of the body, and it
is rarely the skin is diseased unless the whole body suffers also.
What is done in Barking is that once a week a Consultant visits the Barking
Hospital and there sees cases of skin disease. In between the visits treatment is
maintained at the Barking Hospital, and in this
way, and because at the Central Clinic there is a
special room for " Skins a number of cases are
kept from attending at your ordinary Clinics, save
only that there must, of necessity, be cases which
come up for the first time to an ordinary
Clinic before they are sent to the Special
Department.
Scabies
Year 1945 261
1946 231
1947 110