London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Hornchurch 1957
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Hornchurch]
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37
SECTION F.
PREVALENCE OF AND CONTROL OVER INFECTIOUS
AND OTHER NOTIFIABLE DISEASES
Infectious and Other Notifiable Diseases, 1957.
| Disease | Total cases notified | No. of Cases hospitalised |
|---|---|---|
| Diphtheria | 1 | 1 |
| Dysentery | 26 | 13 |
| Erysipelas | 9 | 1 |
| Food Poisoning | 19 | 3 |
| Infective Hepatitis | 33 | 1 |
| Measles | 1,686 | 18 |
| Ophthalmia Neonatorum | 4 | 0 |
| Pneumonia | 57 | 7 |
| Poliomyelitis— | ||
| Paralytic | 8 | 8 |
| Non-paralytic | 9 | 9 |
| Puerperal Pyrexia | 2 | 1 |
| Scarlet Fever | 197 | 11 |
| Whooping Cough | 157 | 8 |
Apart from Measles—630 last year—and Scarlet Fever 167 last
year—which show a rise, whooping cough 298 in 1956 which showed a
fall and the increase in non-paralytic poliomyelitis cases, no special
statistical comment is indicated.
Poliomyelitis
Paralytic cases:—
The 8 cases comprised females aged 31, 29, 23, 3 and 1 year and
3 males of 48, 18 and 7 years.
The average hospital stay of all cases excluding the fatal ones was
66 days and varied from 166 to 34. Two cases—a male of 48 and a
female of 28 died.
At the end of the year 2 cases had been completely cured and 4
were progressing satisfactorily and attending hospital for physiotherapy.
Non-paralytic cases:—
The cases followed the usual course with the minimum hospital
stay and the only incident of note was the fact that two members of the
same family contracted the non-paralytic form of the disease within a
week of one another.
Dysentery and Food Poisoning.
No significant outbreak occurred during the year, single cases being
merely involved. There is possibly an appreciable amount of undiagnosed
dysentery abroad with symptoms so slight that doctors are not
consulted.