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that these people, however elderly and infirm, are not
units, but human beings with feelings and opinions.
I am certainly satisfied that however much time we
spend on this matter, that time will be amply repaid.
Section 50. Burial or cremation of the dead.
No action was necessary under this section
during 1956.
Laboratory Facilities.
Once again, we did not have to call upon the
Laboratory to any extent during 1956, owing to the
absence of major outbreaks of infectious disease or any
other untoward happenings.
Summary of work carried out at Public Health Laboratories
for the year 1956.
Throat and nose swabs 12
Faeces 110
Blood 1
Ice Cream 45
Milk 56
Others 1
PREVALENCE AND CONTROL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES.
From the table of infectious diseases set out in
Table 1, it will be noted that 193 cases of infectious
disease were notified during the year as against 560 in
the previous year. This is the lowest total recorded
since 1939. Although this figure is very satisfactory,
it must be remembered that 1956 was a year in which
measles was non-epidemic. This is the main reason
why the total number of infectious diseases notified
during the year fell so considerably. Apart from
the fall in measles notifications (80 as against 462),
there is very little to which detailed attention need
be drawn. Scarlet Fever notifications rose from
12 in 1955 to 22 in 1956; pertussis notifications fell
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