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Once again there was no case of diphtheria. This statement
has now been repeated for so many years that its significance
rather tends to be lost and it becomes one of those things taken
for granted. It cannot be too strongly emphasized that
diphtheria will only remain absent so long as adequate immunisation
of infants and young children is kept up. The absence of
diphtheria in the community means that there is no longer the
opportunity for any naturally acquired immunity to be produced
through constant exposure to the infection, Present day immunity
is purely artificial and must be maintained artificially in order
to keep the disease at bay.
During 1956 there was no case - real or suspected - of
smallpox in the district. I make no apology for pointing out
once again the nearness of the district to the country's major
airport and to the ever present danger of the importation of a
case of smallpox through the airport It is therefore wise to
point out the advantages of having all infants vaccinated as a
precaution against this most fearsome disease. Infant vaccination
is a comparatively safe procedure. Once an infant has been
vaccinated, re-vaccination at any age becomes simple, whereas a
first vaccination in an older person is beset with considerable
dangers. Immediate vaccination is our only weapon of defence
against smallpox, If a case of smallpox occurred, all persons in
contact with the case would need to be vaccinated If they had
been done as infants then no problem would arise Further,
modern travel regulations demand valid vaccination certificates
and of course vaccination is necessary in the case of the armed
forces. For all these reasons therefore a proper start in infancy
with vaccination is most desirable.
Progress has been made during the year in the methods of
prevention of certain other infectious diseases; protection
against whooping cough by immunisation has been continued and
it is possible to confer a degree of immunity against tetanus
by the same method.
In the latter part of the year a beginning was made in
attempting to prevent poliomyelitis by means of a vaccine and a
number of children in the 2 to 9 years old group were treated
by this method. The vaccination proved to be completely safe and
it is probable that this method of attacking poliomyelitis will
become an established feature of public health work.
New Food Hygiene Regulations came into operation during
the year These regulations made the work of the Public Health
Department easier, in that they specified certain standards in
food premises which had to be reached. Fortunately, most of the
food traders and handlers had already been educated in this
matter sufficiently to know what standards would be expected of
them and the implementation of the regulations as a result
proceeded without any great difficulty. This work of supervising
food premises is now of course accepted as part of the Public
Health Department's routine.
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