View report page

55
Public Health (Prevention of Tuberculosis) Regulations, 1925.
Section 172, Public Health Act, 1936.
No action was taken by the Local Authority under these
Regulations during 1958.
Typhoid and Para-Typhoid Fever.
Six cases of Para-Typhoid Fever occurred during the year,
five being from one family. All cases were admitted to hospital for
treatment. The source of infection of the family was not discovered.
The other case was associated with an outbreak which occurred
in another district.
There were no deaths from this disease in the Urban District
during 1958.
Mass X-ray.
No Mass X-Ray survey was undertaken in the area during
1958.
A new service, now available to Orpington residents, offers
a regular X-ray check to men over the age of 45, as a form of
insurance against lung cancer. The earlier this disease is discovered,
the better are the chances of successful treatment, and a regular
chest X-ray examination offers the best chances of early detection.
Those taking advantage of these arrangements, which are made
by the South East London Mass X-Ray Service, will receive
appointments for a chest X-ray every six months at places convenient
to them. This service offers such obvious benefits that its
popularity ought to be assured, especially at a time when the
number of deaths from this disease is tending to increase from year
to year. More than 30 Orpington men died from lung cancer
during 1958 as compared, for example, with only two from
pulmonary tuberculosis; early detection by Mass Radiography has
played no mean part in the conquest of the latter disease, and this
gives added reason to hope that similar success can be achieved
in this additional field.
Whooping Cough.
One hundred and fifty-two cases were notified during the year,
as against 228 cases in 1957. Only two cases were admitted to
hospital for treatment.
Though generally mild, whooping cough can still be a prolonged
and unpleasant illness, sometimes serious, especially in the
first year of life. The value of immunisation in preventing or
modifying the attacks is now well proven, and this represents