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ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH
FOR THE YEAR 1958
June, 1959
To the Chairman and Members of the
Ruislip-Vortkuiood Urban District Council-4
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,
There was no epidemic or other untoward happening in the
district during 1958. The vital statistics set out in the
following pages need little comment, and may be regarded as
satisfactory. 1958 was not a 'measles' year - 327 notified cases
compared with 887 the previous year - and there were no deaths
from any of the comnon infectious diseases.
1958, although unremarkable as far as the infectious disease
incidence is concerned, is noteworthy in ahother respects During
this year, widespread inoculation against poliomyelitis was
begun, confined at first to a young age group, but later extended
to include older children and young adults. If the results of
this inoculation campaign reach expectations, leading to the
virtual elimination of poliomyelitis, then 1958 will become one
of the landmarks of public health progress, comparable with the
action taken against diphtheria almost 20 years ago. This
addition to the range of infectious diseases controllable by
inoculation complicates still further the problem of getting
parents to accept these procedures, especially when the diseases
against which they are aimed appear to be non-existent.
Fortunately, there is some prospect that in the foreseeable
future, combined vaccines will be developed which will cut down
t.he number of injections to be given, while at the same time
providing enhanced protection.
The low infant mortality rate is gratifying, although it
should be remembered that the figures involved are comparatively
small, and the local rate, therefore, is liable to wide
fluctuations from year to year. In general, however, the trend
is slowly downwards, reaching towards the hard core of those
cases the cause of which is not yet fully known - the malformations,
the congenital diseases and cases of prematurity. These
conditions are the very ones which provide most of the cases
of still birth, and early infantile mortality and still birth
may conveniently be investigated together, as it is often just
a matter of chance whether an infant, suffering from one of
these conditions, dies before, during, or soon after birth.
Much research is still needed into these conditions before it
will be possible to reduce the infant mortality rate and the
still birth rate much lower.
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