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
Finchley 1942
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Finchley]
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(6)
The following table shows the numbers of notifications of the principal infectious diseases received during 1941 and 1942:-
| 1941. | 1942. | |
|---|---|---|
| Diphtheria | 38 | 19 |
| Scarlet Fever | 51 | 141 |
| Enteric Fever | 6 | 1 |
| Cerebro-Spinal Fever | 8 | 4 |
| Pneumonia | 51 | 42 |
| Measles | 647 | 593 |
| Whooping Cough | 376 | 116 |
It will bo soon that measles was almost as prevalent
in 1942 as in 1941 and even in the early months of 1943 the
numbers had not decreased appreciably. A measles Epidemic
is usually sharp and comparatively short but this one, for
some unknown reason, has been a long drawn out affair.
Fortunately there has been only one death in the two years•
Whooping Cough cases continued to occur throughout the year
and seven deaths resulted, 6 in Nazareth House and one
outside. Scarlet Fever of a mild character was prevalent,
especially in East Finchley in 1942, but there were no
deaths•
Diphtheria was low in incidence and 11 out of the 19
eases occurred in persons over 15 years of age. One adult
died from this disease.
The response to the campaign for immunisation against
diphtheria was very satisfactory, 1654 children being
treated during the year. Immunisation was started in
Finchley in 1935 and has been continued without interruption
ever since with the very creditable result that over 80%
of all children under 15 years of age are now protected.
TUBERCULOSIS.
There has been little change in the situation regarding
tuberculosis of the lungs. The notifications are a little