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Nursing Mothers and Infants.
Supervision was carried out at the Infant Welfare Centres and by
visits to the homes made by the Health Visitors who are now County
staff.
There were seven Infant Welfare Centres in the Borough and during
the period 9 sessions were held each week. A Medical Officer attended
each centre weekly. The situations and other particulars of the Centres
appear in the Table of Local Clinic Services.
INFECTIOUS DISEASE.
The number of cases of Infectious Disease notified during the year
are shown in the Table.
Diphtheria.
No cases were notified during the year. This is the first year since
notification of Infectious Diseases were instituted in which no case of
diphtheria has been notified.
Active immunisation against diphtheria was started in 1928, just
after the close of an outbreak of the disease which took a heavy toll of
children's lives. Since that time no further outbreak of a similar nature
has occurred in the district, and in the last few years the incidence of
the disease has been very small : but there has never before been a year
in which no cases were notified. It has taken twenty-one years—but that
is a short time in Public Health matters.
I am satisfied that this has been achieved by the process of
Diphtheria Immunisation, and freedom from the disease in the future
depends on our maintaining the high level of individual and mass
immunity which undoubtedly exists in the district to-day.
INFANT WELFARE CENTRE ATTENDANCES, 1949.
(a) The number of Sessions held during the year was 448.
(b) Attendances during the same period, 29,863.
iDiphtheria Immunisation.
All the Infant Welfare Clinics in the Borough carry out Diphtheria
Immunisation.
(a) The number of Sessions held during the year was 324.
(b) Attendances during the same period, 1,838.
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