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
Romford 1950
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Romford]
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This means that for the second consecutive year, no cases
occurred in Romford.
Prominence has again been given to diphtheria immunisation
and to the desirability of "booster" doses at 5 and 10 years of age
in order to maintain a high standard of immunisation amongst those
children who have previously had a course of injections in early
infancy.
The following statistics relate to the state of immunisation at
the 31st December, 1950.
TABLE 14
| Under 5 yrs. | 5-15 yrs. | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of children who had completed a full course of Immunisation at any time up to 31st December, 1950, and who were born between 31st December, 1936, and 31st | ||
| December, 1950 | 3,859 | 10,208 |
| Approximate estimated number of children | 7,950 | 11,580 |
| Percentage Immunised at 31st December, 1950 | 49 | 88 |
This, however, does not give a complete record, as children,
as a general rule, do not complete inoculation earlier than their first
birthday. By allowing for this, the percentage of children immunised
between one and five years of age is raised to 64.
Table 15 gives the statistics since the inauguration of the
scheme in Romford in 1935, till the end of 1950.
TABLE 15
| Number of Immunising injections given at the Clinics | 33,787 |
| Number of children who have completed the course of Injections, either at the Clinics or by own doctors | 17,510 |
| Number of Schick Test Injections given at the Clinics, including Control Injections | 22,107 |
| Number who have been Schick Tested | 11,073 |
(d) Dysentery.
During the last quarter of the year there was an outbreak of
dysentery in the area, due to Shigella Sonnei. My attention was first
drawn to this by reason of about thirty cases amongst school children
in one particular school. Immediate investigation was made, when
it was found that a number of the sufferers had returned to school,
as the illness was mild and had cleared up in about 24-28 hours. It
was found, however, that three members of the canteen staff had
suffered, and had returned to duty.