View report page

134
As elimination of this disease is conditional upon the maintenance
of an adequate level of immunisation, an intensive effort will be
required to secure the full benefit of the campaign. If parents leave
their children unprotected there may be a return of diphtheria
outbreaks, as exemplified during a recent outbreak in the Midlands,
where among 78 cases there were 6 deaths—all of them children
who had not been immunised.

Protection against Whooping Cough.
In recent Annual Reports I have submitted information
regarding the controlled investigation into the efficacy of whooping
cough vaccines, undertaken in collaboration with the Medical
Research Council. The full results of the investigation will not be
available for some time, but those available so far show that the
incidence and severity of whooping cough in the protected groups
have been appreciably less than in the control groups.
Arrangements for public whooping cough immunisation in the
area were put into operation on 10th September, 1951, and the
following table gives the available information regarding the number
and age groups of the children who were immunised during 1953.