View report page

7
SECTION 1.
INFECTIOUS DISEASES
The term infectious diseases is given to those diseases which
are most readily transmissable from one human being to another
and from an animal to a human being. They can be transmitted
from one person to another so easily and quickly that in a very
short space of time a large number of individuals may become
infected so giving rise to an epidemic. In order to help control the
spread of these diseases certain of them have been made notifiable
that it is to say, the authorities, in this case the Medical Officer of
Health of a district, must be informed of their occurrence.
In the last one hundred years there has been a great decrease
in the incidence of and mortality rate from infectious diseases.
This decrease appears to be due to a variety of reasons. In many
cases a knowledge of the mode of transmission has been the first
step in reduction. The compulsory notification mentioned above
has played an important part in the fall in mortality rates of all
infectious diseases. In the cases of typhoid and cholera, which
were a scourge in this country for many years, the main factors in
reduction of mortality have been improvements in water supply
and sanitation. These factors are important also in the case of
paratyphoid fever, but nowadays, with regard to prevention of this
disease, the emphasis is laid on good personal hygiene and clean
food. With dysentery also, improved methods of handling and
storage of food have led to a reduction in deaths from this cause.
The knowledge that typhus was a louse borne infection gave rise
to the use of insecticides which successfully controlled this disease.
The use of vaccination in smallpox and immunisation in
diphtheria have been largely responsible for the rarity of deaths
from these diseases at the present time.
Chemotherapy and antibiotics have reduced the fatality from
measles and whooping cough, mainly by preventing complications.
Decline in virulence of the causitive organism has rendered
scarlet fever practically innocuous and it is interesting to speculate
on the possible decline in virulence of the virus causing influenza.
Early Diagnosis.
Since these diseases are as a rule most infective in the early
stages the importance of early diagnosis in the prevention of spread
of disease cannot be over emphasised. It is important therefore
that parents should be able to recognise the early signs of the
common infectious diseases.
As part of the health education campaign, topical leaflets are
distributed through the Town Hall and the Public Libraries when
any infectious disease is prevalent.