London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Dagenham 1958

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Dagenham]

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The following is a summary of the work carried out during the year by Local Health Authority medical officers and general practitioners. A total of 1,697 children received primary immunisation injections and a total of 1,994 received boosting doses.

Age at final injectionPrimary immunisationChildren who received a boosting dose
L.H.A.G.P's.L.H.A.G.P's.
Under 1 year5483412
1—4 years2291623925
5—9 years18743583328
10—14 years17710624393
Total all ages1,1415561,246748

Diphtheria Immunisation of School Children
A total of 2,345 school children were immunised against diphtheria during the year
(of which 774 were immunised by private practitioners). The continued increase is due
to the emphasis on booster immunisation in the schools both at the 5 year medical inspection
and at school leaving. All children entering and leaving school are being
offered immunisation and the parents are encouraged by school medical officers and
school nurses to consent.

The position at the end of the year in Dagenham regarding immunisation in relation to the child population is given in the following table which gives details of all children who had completed a course of immunisation at any time before that date:—

Age at 31. 12. 58. i.e. born in yearUnder 1 yr. 19581—4 yrs. 1957—19545—9 yrs. 1953—194910—14 yrs. 1948—1944Under 15 yrs. Total
Last complete course of injections whether primary or booster
1954—19588903,4634,4073,52712,287
1953 or earlier2,9346,2219,155
Estimated mid-year population1,4806,00019,30026,780
Immunity Index60.157.741.145.8

Poliomyelitis
Throughout the year poliomyelitis immunisation has continued and the age limit
was increased to 15 years. Sessions of up to 200 were arranged during the year as the
vaccine became available. In the autumn the scheme was increased to include all
people between the ages of 15 and 25 years inclusive and so it was decided to hold open
sessions at Oxlow Lane Clinic on Thursday evenings from 5.00-7.00 p.m. and Saturday
mornings from 10.00 a.m.—12 noon. Publicity was given to these open sessions throughout
the Borough and the Dagenham Girl Pipers attended the first session. However,
attendances at these sessions were very poor and it was decided to discontinue them in
1959.
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