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East Barnet Urban District Council
EIGHTY-THIRD
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH
FOR THE YEAR 1956.
To the Chairman and Members of the
East Barnet Urban District Council
I have the honour to present my report for the year 1956. This
has been a light year from the point of view of notifications of
infectious diseases, particularly in regard to the ever prevalent
measles and chicken pox. The decline in severity in what are classed
as the usual children's infectious diseases has been noticeable
for several years and is reflected in the marked lessening of attention
paid to quarantine and period of exclusion of contacts from schools.
Diphtheria immunisation continues to prove its value, and whooping
cough immunisation is becoming increasingly popular. Unfortunately
it begins to appear preferable that the two injections
should not be combined, which means an increasing number of
injections for a babe during its first year of life, apart of course
from the highly necessary vaccination. Added to all these procedures
is now the poliomyelitis vaccine, which is likely to be universally
demanded as soon as it becomes available in sufficient quantities,
as the disease commands a fear somewhat out of proportion to
its incidence and normal severity. This fear is none the less completely
understandable in view of the tragic results of a severe
infection and our meagre knowledge as to its mode of spread.
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