View report page

due to conditions about which we know very little and about
which a great deal of research is still necessary I have
included a table shewing the causes of the infant deaths which
took place during the year
In connection with infectious disease, the main feature was
the great increase in the number of measles cases. This disease
is epidemic in roughly biennial cycles and 1955 was a peak
year - in 1954 there were 27 cases and in 1953 there were
1051 cases.
Whooping cough notifications were more numerous than in the
previous year while those for scarlet fever were lower. There
was no death from any of these infectious diseases.
Once again there was no case of diphtheria notified It has
now been absent so long that it has ceased to be a public health
problem in the sense of being dangerous to a large number of
persons every year. However, it must be remembered that the
infection is still with us in this country and any slackening
of its control could lead to a very serious outbreak. The
control of diphtheria depends on the immunisation of infants
and the boosting of the immunity as produced by an additional
injection during childhood. As cases of diphtheria and the
resultant family tragedies disappear into the past, it is
becoming more and more difficult to persuade parents of the
paramount necessity of having their children immunised - especially
as it is to protect them against something of which the general
public have no experience.
As time goes on the techniques of the protective immunisations
are being steadily improved and it is now the general practice
to combine with the diphtheria immunisation, substances which
give some protection also against whooping cough and tetanus. In
recent months a vaccine has been introduced which gives some
protection against poliomyelitis. If this proves to be as
successful as it is hoped, it may be that poliomyelitis will be
controlled in the same way as is diphtheria. Looking further
ahead it may be that in the future it will be possible to
combine these various innoculations and to give an infant a
single course of injections which will protect it against these
more dangerous infectious diseases.
Another perennial problem is that of smallpox. Although
there was no case of this disease in the District during
1955, I make no apology for referring to this matter year after
year. Not enough infants are being vaccinated to give the
necessary immunity against this disease. Living as we do
adjacent to a major airport, it is only a matter of time before
a case of smallpox will be introduced into the District. When
that happens secondary cases are bound to occur - if they occur
in unvaccinated individuals the results will be tragic, as
experience in other districts in recent years has shewn only
too clearly. Primary vaccination in the infant is comparatively
safe and gives a protection against the disease which only
slowly wanes over the years. It has this very great advantage,
however, that it makes subsequent vaccinations - whether
necessary because of contact with the disease, or because of
3