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INFECTIOUS FEVERS
Question:—What is being done to protect my child against infectious
fevers at school ?
Answer:—Briefly, a good deal has been done; a good deal is being done;
and a good deal remains to be done.
The control of Smallpox, Cholera and Typhoid were triumphs of the nineteenth
century ; the control of Diphtheria is a triumph—
among many—of the twentieth century.
Diphtheria.—In Barking, about fifteen years
ago, it was by no means uncommon to have two
hundred cases of Diphtheria a year and in 1934 we
had no less than 398 cases, of which 247 were school
children. In this same year there were no less than
22 deaths.
Now deaths from Diphtheria are so infrequent
that we cannot comment upon them because somebody
would know the actual cases of which we
should be writing.
Deaths from Diphtheria
(all ages)
Year Number Year Number
1929 4 1939 2
1930 — 1940 1
1931 7 1941 —
1932 5 1942 —
1933 3 1943 1
1934 22 1944 —
1935 14 1945 1
1936 3 1946 1
1937 5 1947 —
1938 14 1948 1
As we have said, protection here lies in immunisation. It is our aim that
every child shall be immunised at least
three times—once in infancy; just before
starting school; and again when about
ten years of age. There is every indication,
however, that, in the near future,
with advances in technique, immunisation
may be begun earlier and discontinued
earlier than formerly.
DIPHTHERIA IMMUNISATION
Number of immunised school
children 9,307
Percentage of school population
immunised 72.71
Whooping Cough.—For many years now we have been immunising against
Whooping Cough where we have been requested to do so.
There is no one-hundred per cent. certain protection against Whooping Cough,
but I am delighted to be able to add that research is still taking place.
Previously I have said that immunisation against Whooping Cough gives a
fifty-fifty chance of being effective. I believe that in the very near future we shall
be able to say that it gives far more than a fifty-fifty chance.
Meningitis.—The control over Meningitis is not so much a victory for Public
Health as it is a victory for curative medicine.
With regard to Meningitis among children we have so few cases that it is not
practical to make any deductions but we do not include Meningitis yet as one of
the victories of Public Health, although on the other hand there has been a very
considerable victory so far as curative medicine is concerned. This dread disease
is not nearly so death-dealing as it used to be prior to the introduction of penicillin
and other drugs.
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