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Wales now comes from attested herds the designation "Tuberculin
Tested " will not be used.
Whilst on the subject of raw milk, its association at times with
Brucellosis should not be overlooked. Incidentally and controversially,
Brucellosis is not a notifiable disease, but notification
was received during the year of a man suffering from the illness.
He gave a history of the consumption of raw milk in a distant
country district some weeks previously, and the information was
passed to the appropriate authority for investigation.
Climatic conditions have an effect on the incidence of some
infectious diseases and although there was no serious prevalence of
fog during the year, there was a prolonged period of snowy weather
at the beginning of the year which may have had some influence
on the increased number of deaths from pneumonia.
The efforts in connection with immunisation against various
infectious diseases continued as in previous years, the most noticeable
decline being in the figures for smallpox vaccination as was
to be expected after the previous year's exceptionally high figures,
when a very large number of persons came forward for vaccination
as a result of the importation of smallpox into the country.
With regard to the Vital Statistics of the Borough, there was
no significant change in the Death Rate, nor in the Infant Mortality
Rate which was slightly lower than last year and compares favourably
with the National figure.
The greatest number of infant deaths occurred in children
under the age of one week, the causes of death being that hard core
of ever-recurring conditions whose prevention seems to be outwith
our grasp at present, namely prematurity, birth injury and congenital
defects. Nevertheless, the figures are a marked improvement
on last year for these early deaths, but unfortunately, the
same cannot be said for deaths from pneumonia and bronchitis in
the older age groups.
The Birth Rate was not as high as last year, but still higher
than the rates for the years since the immediate post-war peak.
There was no maternal death but unfortunately there was an increase
in the number of still-births, which, together with the early neonatal
deaths, gives a slightly higher Peri-natal Mortality Rate
than last year, and emphasizes the need for special attention to
the difficult problem of Peri-natal mortality.
Cancer continues to take an ever-increasing toll of life although
this year there were slightly fewer deaths from cancer of the lungs
and bronchus. Nevertheless, there were fifty-seven deaths from
this cause compared with only four deaths from pulmonary tuberculosis.