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This highly satisfactory state of affairs is, however, accompanied
by one danger, namely, that the young mother who has now no fear
of Diphtheria may feel that it is not worth while for her children
to be immunised. There can be no greater mistake as there is ample
evidence to show that the germ causing Diphtheria has by no means
disappeared and that the present position has only been achieved
and maintained by immunisation.
There is a growing volume of evidence that immunisation against
Whooping Cough, whilst not so effective as is that against
Diphtheria, does tend to reduce the incidence of the disease and the
severity of the attacks. In view of this, a scheme for the protection
of children against Whooping Cough was put into operation in April.
Fortunately the antigen of Diphtheria combines well with that of
Whooping Cough so that the combined immunity can be conferred
with only one additional injection and this combined prophylaxis is
now that most frequently sought by the parents for their children.
The steady decline in the number of notifications received since
the inception of the Diphtheria Immunisation Scheme is shown by
the following table :—
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