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
Dagenham 1961
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Dagenham]
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| Age at final injection | Primary immunisation | Children who received a boosting dose | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| L.H.A. | G.P.'s | L.H.A. | G.P.'s | |
| Under 1 year | 515 | 443 | — | — |
| 1-4 | 313 | 299 | 109 | 104 |
| 5—9 years | 163 | 117 | 582 | 424 |
| 10—14 years | 140 | 77 | 878 | 296 |
| Total all Ages | 1,131 | 936 | 1,569 | 824 |
Diphtheria Immunisation of School Children
A total of 2,677 school children were immunised against diphtheria during the year
(of which 914 were immunised by private practitioners). Booster diphtheria immunisation
sessions have been continued in the schools and school clinics for the school entrants
and school leavers.
The acceptance rate is still lower than I should like and there are still too many
children coming to school who have not been immunised in infancy—some of these
accept immunisation in school and a primary course is given to these children.
Poliomyelitis
In May 1961 I wrote an article which appeared in the Dagenham Post calling on
people to accept immunisation against polio in good time before the "polio season" and
during the year there was an improvement in the numbers of people accepting immunisation
by injection. Towards the end of the year it was realised that oral vaccine would
be available during 1962 which we hope will assist in finally stamping out poliomyelitis
from the population.
During the year a total of 4,200 primary injections (i.e. 2 doses) were given and 3,722 third injections.
| Immunisation 1961 | By Medical Officers | By General Practitioners | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary | 1,873 (1,501) | 3,113 (2,719) | 4,986 (4,220) |
| 2nd and 3rd | 1,275 (5,709) | 2,447 (5,402) | 3,722 (11,111) |
| 4th injection | 4,338 | 2,611 | 6,949 |
The corresponding figures for 1960 are shown in brackets.
There were no cases of polio notified to the department in 1961.
Total acceptors since commencement of scheme 42,928
Total primary injections since commencement of scheme 37,537
Total 3rd injections since commencement of scheme 31,692
Total 4th injections since commencement of scheme 6,949
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