View report page

Measles. An average of four or five notifications of Measles
per week were received throughout the first three quarters of the
year. In the December quarter however the number of cases notified
rose considerably, this being the commencement of an epidemic.
These epidemics occur usually at intervals of 18 months to two
years. It is hoped that the measles vaccine now under trial will
prevent these epidemics in future years.
Tuberculosis. Notification of Tuberculosis in 1964 totalled
40. This year, however, is the first in which no deaths from this
disease have been recorded in the district. Some patients on the
register died during the year, but tuberculosis has not been given
as the underlying cause.
B.C.G. Vaccination of Mantoux negative contacts, and of secondary
school children and students at colleges has been continued.
Dr. S. Steel, Chest Physician at the Romford Chest Clinic,
has kindly supplied the following information on the work of the
Chest Clinic:—
During the year 1964 the Romford Chest Clinic has continued
to serve the needs of the combined areas of Romford Borough
and Hornchurch Urban District. As forecast in the report
on the services of the Romford Chest Clinic for 1964, there has
been a steady decline in the number of notified cases of tuberculosis
on the Clinic register from approximately 1,500 to the present figure
of approximately 1,000. This has been due to the fact that many
patients have now reached the stage where they can be regarded
as having recovered from their tuberculous disease. In consequence,
there has also been a reduction in the number of contacts
of cases of tuberculosis who have been followed up on the Clinic's
miniature x-ray unit. In contrast there has been an increase in
the number of patients referred to the Clinic by their General Practitioners
with non-tuberculous chest conditions, so that the work
of the Clinic has, in fact, increased. This has also been added to
by the number of patients referred by the Mass Radiography
Service which has been operating in the area.
As a consequence, there has been a widening of the scope of
the services of the Romford Chest Clinic to include the more
general aspects of chest medicine and associated cardiac conditions,
and an electrocardiograph and apparatus for respiratory
function tests have been installed in the Clinic.
page 17