View report page

Puerperal Pyrexia. Thirteen cases of puerperal pyrexia were
notified during the year. As noted in the Annual Report for 1947,
the terrors of this disease have been materially reduced by the use
of the sulphanilamides and penicillin. No fatal case of puerperal
pyrexia occurred during 1948.
Acute Anterior Poliomyelitis. -No cases of this disease were
reported during 1948. This negative incidence was in keeping
with the picture reported from the remainder of the country.
Measles.—767 cases of measles were reported during the
year, as against 392 in 1947 and 411 in 1946. The type of
disease met with was again mild, admission to hospital being
necessary in only a very small percentage of cases. The use of
"measles modifiers" was extended during the year, particularly
in our Day Nurseries. This has provided a valuable means of
controlling the spread of the disease at a time when measles
should, if possible, be avoided. Work is still in progress to
determine the most efficient type of "measles modifier," and also
the dosage. When this work has been completed, our knowledge
of the means whereby the severity of measles can be reduced
should be considerably enhanced.
Pertussis. 149 cases of pertussis were reported during the
year, as against 208 in 1947 and 136 in 1946. Further details
regarding this disease will be found set out in the section of the
Report dealing with immunisation.
When it is remembered that pertussis is now almost certainly
the most serious disease of early childhood, the possibility of
controlling its spread by means of immunisation takes on added
significance. Improved laboratory methods for the diagnosis of
pertussis in the early stages are also helping to reduce present
dangers. In this connection, 1 have taken the opportunity of
reminding general practitioners of the existence of these latter
facilities, which are, however, still used with insufficient frequency.
Although no cases of diphtheria have been reported in Southgate
for approximately two years, during which time a total of more
than 350 cases of pertussis have been notified, the number of
throat swabs sent to the Laboratory for investigation as to the
possible presence of the c. diphtherias far outnumbers the total
of swabs sent with a view to ascertaining whether or not the
organism responsible for pertussis was present. This is, of
course, understandable, having regard to the major part which
diphtheria has played for so very many years in the field of
medicine. It should none the less be realised that the taking of
a swab for the presence of the h. pertussis has at the present time
much more practical significance than the examination of a swab
where diphtheria is suspected. One cannot afford to neglect any
means which will allow us to detect the presence of pertussis
in a child at the earliest possible stage. The laboratory offers us
39