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Throat and Nose Swabs 23
Faeces 119
Sputum 4
Ice Cream 58
Milk 43
NATIONAL ASSISTANCE ACT 1948.
Section 47. Removal to suitable premises of persons in
need of care and attention.
No formal action was taken under this section
during the year.
Section 50. Burial or cremation of the dead.
No action was necessary under this section during
1954.
PREVALENCE AND CONTROL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE.
Details of cases of infectious disease notified
during the year will be found in the table set out at the
end of this report.
The total of 269 is considerably less than that
for 1953, which was 540. This was due very largely to the
decrease in measles notifications (108 as against 395).
In the introduction to this report, I once again
mentioned the fact that the term epidemiology has taken on a
new significance. We must no longer confine our attention
to infectious diseases per se. but must concern ourselves
with any disease or contributory cause of disease which makes
itself apparent among the population. So far as Friern
Barnet is concerned, this more or less reduces itself to the
investigation of unusual illnesses which may have sprung from
quite unexpected sources, Here, of course, one is very
largely dependent on the information received from general
practitioners. Thus, in the past I have been informed of
cases of infective hepatitis among school children, some
time before the information could have been obtained from
the schools concerned; while family doctors and schools have
been very helpful in letting us know of outbreaks of such
diseases as winter vomiting. I am most grateful for this
assistance, and have communicated my thanks both to general
practitioners and to head teachers.
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