View report page

* Includes deaths from all forms of pneumonia.
A further analysis of these cases by age, wards and the
months during which they occurred is given in Tables I and
II in the Appendix, while a full statement of the cases of
infectious disease notified since 1921 is presented in Table III
in the Appendix.
It will be seen that measles was by far the commonest
notifiable infectious disease; in fact 1951 was a peak year for this
infection. Scarlet fever, now also a relatively mild disease, was
however less prevalent, and no cases of poliomyelitis or diphtheria
were notified.
Excluding measles and whooping cough, which were not
notifiable between the two wars, and the hospital cases of dysentery,
which have remained at a comparatively low level, it is
noted that the incidence of the remaining acute infectious diseases
decreased from 3.1 per 1,000 population in 1950 to 2.6, which is
lower than the pre-war average, though still slightly higher than
in recent years, due this year to the increase in cases of pneumonia.
SMALLPOX.
On three occasions during the year individuals or groups of
persons were notified who had moved into the District, having
recently been in contact with a case of smallpox. They were all
kept under surveillance, and contacts were encouraged to obtain
vaccination or revaccination. No case of the disease resulted.
16