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16
Detailed information regarding the Leyton poliomyelitis cases
of 1952 is to be found on pages 36 to 39.
Tuberculosis.
From the statistical summary on page 43 it will be seen that
whereas during the last ten years the annual number of deaths from
tuberculosis has been reduced by more than half (from 70 in 1943
to 31 in 1952), there has been no corresponding reduction in the
incidence of the disease as shown by the annual number of notifications.
Tuberculosis is still one of the major killing diseases, and
the most serious infectious disease affecting the working section
of the community at the time when their value to the national
economy is greatest.
Before 1948 the prevention of tuberculosis was regarded as
being more important than its cure, and all the work connected
with prevention and treatment (domiciliary and institutional) was
under the control of the local health authority. Since 1948 the
Regional Hospital Boards have been responsible for the staff and
the work undertaken in chest clinics, and for all treatment either
at home or in hospital; whereas the local health authorities have
been responsible for the appointment and work of the tuberculosis
health visitors. Such dichotomy of effort has given rise to administrative
difficulty of the type inherent in any scheme which is subject
to dual control.
Owing to the lack of essential medical equipment and facilities
at Leyton Chest Clinic, Leyton patients are subjected to unnecessary
inconvenience, delay and expense by having to attend at the
various institutions to which the work of the Leyton clinic has
been farmed-out; and the supervision of contacts is therefore
more difficult than it should be.
Food Poisoning
During the year some twenty Leyton residents were notified
to be suffering from food poisoning, and fortunately all made good
recoveries. Today eating in catering establishments and canteens
is much more common than it used to be, and one careless or
unclean food handler can infect a large number of people. It
should be realised that it is dangerous for a person suffering from
diarrhoea, or from sores on the skin, to handle food ; and that
all food handlers should always wash their hands after using the
lavatory. The old fear of metallic contamination ("ptomaine
poisoning") has been shown to be groundless, and it should be
realised that it is not the foods that smell badly that are most