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MEDICAL OFFICER S ANNUAL REPORT.
Public Health Department,
Town Hall,
Hayes, Middlesex.
June, 1954
To the Chairman and Members of the Council.
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,
The health of the district during 1953 has remained good and
there has been no major epidemic. Although a large number of
cases of whooping cough and measles were notified there was only
one death from measles and the majority of cases of whooping cough
were very mild, owing probably to the prevalence of immunisation
against this disease. The vital statistics are satisfactory, both the
birth rate of 13.84 and the death rate of 10.71 comparing favourably
with the figures for England and Wales (see Page 5).
There was one maternal death during the year; this was the
first death for two years, and as it was due to pulmonary embolism,
may be considered unavoidable in the present state of medical
knowledge.
The major event of the year has been the retirement in March
of Dr. J. S. Lloyd, who was Medical Officer of Health for Hayes
and Harhngton for twenty-seven years. It is not easy to follow an
officer of such old standing, and I would like to record here my
thanks to the members of the Council, my colleagues, and especially
the staff of the Public Health Department, for the kind welcome
and generous assistance which they have given me.
It is impossible in the short space of this foreword to cover all
aspects of the Public Health Service, but I propose to deal briefly
with one subject in each report. This year I would like to stress
the importance of clean food handling and hygiene. Although no
serious outbreak of dysentery or food poisoning occurred, the number
of suspected cases notified suggests a potential source of trouble.
An instance of this occurred recently in a borough in the north,
where pork pies were infected by gravy handled by a worker
suffering from dysentery. Over one hundred cases were notified,
and at least two deaths occurred, one being a local doctor. In
addition, the financial loss to the firm concerned was estimated at
about £5,000—and all this because one person failed to follow the
elementary rules of personal hygiene.
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