London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Croydon 1935
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Croydon]
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773 after T.A.M., and 8 after T.A.F. The latter all proved to be
negative; of the former 747 were negative, 15 were positive, and 11
left the district without having the test read. The Positive reactors
each received one further injection of T.A.M., following upon
which 12 were retested at 2-3 months, and 11 proved to be negative.
The 12th was again positive, and is still under treatment; it is
probable that this child is one in whom it may be impossible to
create the Schick-negative state. The remaining 3 children have
still to receive a further test. As a result of the numbers awaiting
treatment, it was possible to repeat only 51 Schick Tests at an
interval of from one month to one year. Of these, 28 were confirmatory
in originally Schick negative children, while 23 were
repeats in Schick positives whose treatment had rendered them
Schick negative at three months. All had retained their immunity.
III. Summary of 634 Primary Schick Tests.*
| +ve. | %. | —ve. | %. | Total. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 5 years | 46 | 96 | 2 | 4 | 48 |
| „ 6 „ | 87 | 87 | 13 | 13 | 100 |
| „ 7 „ | 68 | 85 | 12 | 15 | 80 |
| „ 8 ,, | 77 | 86 | 13 | 14 | 90 |
| „ 9 „ | 73 | 83 | 15 | 17 | 88 |
| „ 10 „ | 44 | 78 | 12 | 22 | 56 |
| All ages over 10 years | 105 | 61 | 67 | 39 | 172 |
| 500 | 76 | 134 | 24 | 634 |
*Ten Schick Tests not included in this table were carried out too late
in the year for it to be possible to have their "Reading."
IV. Repeat Schick Tests.
| State before Repeat Test. at | 1/12 | 2/12 | 3/12 | 4/12 | 5/12 | 6/12 | 8/12 | 9/12 | 10/12 | 1 year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schick Negative | 7 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | — | — | 1 | 3 |
| Schick Positive become Negative after Treatment | — | — | — | — | — | 17 | 1 | 2 | — | 3 |
The immunizing course employed was one of three injections
of 1.0cc. T.A.M. (or T.A.F.), given for the most part at fortnightly
or, occasionally, weekly intervals, while Schick tests were almost
always read at the end of 7 days. To make as many readings as
possible valid, 19 children, who failed to attend for reading on
account of illness, were visited in their own homes for this purpose.