View report page

40
IMMUNISATION
After the emphasis given in recent years to vaccination
against poliomyelitis,it was thought necessary to turn attention
once again to reinforcing protection against diphtheria. To
this end, all primary school children were given an appropriate
letter for their parents and special immunizing sessions were
held on school premises.
Although the reporting of cases of diphtheria in the London
area was a stimulus to parents to give consent for these
"booster" doses, the percentage of children in the general population
protected against diphtheria is still too low. The need
to direct attention first to one condition and then to another
is a major drawback in arranging immunizing programmes.
In my view, it is of greater value in preventing outbreaks
of disease to have a large majority of the population reasonably
well protected than a small elite section impeccably immunized.
Poliomyelitis and diphtheria are the main targets at present
and it would therefore be helpful to have a combined antigen
against these diseases.
Tables are given in the Appendix, Page 130.
HOME NURSING
This service continues to be provided by the Croydon District
Nursing Association, acting as agents of the Corporation.
There were fewer new cases and visits in 1960 than in the previous
year. This was due not only to the absence of any major
outbreak of infectious disease, but to a somewhat changing
pattern in the method of giving anti-biotics. New discoveries
and new production methods now allow drugs to be given by mouth
instead of by injection. Nevertheless, this form of administration
still occupies a considerable part of a District
Nurse's time, and arrangements were made during the year for
them to participate in a central Sterile Syringe Service. All
glass sterile syringes in containers have been obtained from a
commercial source and the District Nursing Headquarters serves
as the central distribution point for all sections of the Public
Health Department. In addition to this method being the
theoretical ideal, it has in practice proved entirely successful
and welcomed by all concerned. For detailed statistics see
Page 107.