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
Leyton 1948
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Leyton]
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82
The above Return—Section 3 (6)—shows the percentage of
the child population considered to be immunised. As these percentage
figures are calculated on the estimated child population,
they are liable to a considerable margin of error. In order to
verify or otherwise the accuracy of these percentage figures, since
1944 it has been the practice for records to be kept of the state of
immunisation against diphtheria of all children submitted to routine
medical examination in school; and the following table shows the
percentages of immunised children in the three code groups of
children inspected in school during each of the last five years.
Percentage of School Children Immunised.
| Entrants | Second Age Group | Third Age Group | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. Exmd. | No. Immunised | % | No. Exmd. | No. Immunised | % | No. Exmd. | No. Immunised | % | |
| 1944 | 1,282 | 922 | 71.9 | 647 | 513 | 79.0 | 759 | 470 | 61.9 |
| 1945 | 693 | 487 | 70.2 | 965 | 779 | 80.7 | 743 | 561 | 75.5 |
| 1946 | 1,240 | 919 | 74.1 | 1,191 | 889 | 74.6 | 913 | 634 | 69.4 |
| 1947 | 2,465 | 1,866 | 75.7 | 994 | 834 | 83.9 | 208 | 121 | 58.1 |
| 1948 | 1,200 | 914 | 76.1 | 1,062 | 879 | 82.7 | 1,018 | 752 | 73.8 |
Incidence of Diphtheria Among Protected Persons.
During 1948 one Leyton child, who had been immunised
previously, was notified to be suffering from diphtheria.
The following table gives in summary form the information regarding this case.
| Age. | Sex. | Date of Immunisation. | Date of Notification. | Swab Results T=Throat. N=Nose. E=Ear. | Diagnosis. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | M | 1946 | 5.10.48 | N and T— | Diphtheria of moderate severity. |
Incidence and Mortality from Diptheria.
Totals of deaths and notifications during the past nine years have been as follows:
| Year. | England and Wales. | Leyton. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notified Cases. | Deaths. | Notified Cases. | Deaths. | |
| 1940 | 46,281 | 2,480 | 55 | — |
| 1941 | 50,797 | 2,641 | 44 | 1 |
| 1942 | 41,404 | 1,827 | 39 | — |
| 1943 | 34,662 | 1,371 | 28 | 1 |
| 1944 | 29,949 | 934 | 24 | 1 |
| 1945 | 25,246 | 722 | 43 | 2 |
| 1946 | 18,283 | 472 | 38 | 1 |
| 1947 | 10,465 | 244 | 9 | 1 |
| 1948 | 8,034 | 150 | 5 | - |