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HEALTH SERVICES IN THE AREA INCLINING CONTROL
OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Infectious Diseases.
The notifications of infectious disease were greater than
in the past few years; in addition to the expected measles
epidemic (1,152 cases), there were 48 cases of scarlet fever
and 60 of whooping cough. Those of scarlet fever were all mild
and treated at home, but 7 patients with measles were admitted
to hospital, 5 of them on account of complications; all 7 were
under the age of 6 years and 4 of them were under 3 years. 9
patients with whooping cough were treated in hospital and of
these 6 were under the age of 6 months. Immunisation against
whooping cough is usually started at about 4 months, and it is
evident from these figures that this is not too early.
Mumps and German measles are not routinely notifiable, but
it is interesting to note that out of 6 cases of encephalitis
admitted to hospital. 5 were due to mumps and 1 to German
measles.
Vaccination and Immunisation
The figures for immunisation and vaccination which appear
on pages 13 and 14 were very kindly supplied by the Area Medical
Officer. A new introduction is the use of quadruple vaccine
containing diphtheria/whooping cough/tetanus and poliomyelitis
antigens. It does not mean that the child receives fewer
injections, as poliomyelitis vaccine can be given by mouth, but
the mother need make three less trips to surgery or clinic thus
saving time and effort.
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