London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Southgate 1959
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Southgate]
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PREVALENCE AND CONTROL OF
INFECTIOUS DISEASES
From the table of infectious diseases set out on page 43, it
will be seen that 894 cases of infectious diseases were notified
during the year, as against 384 in 1958. The Infectious Sickness
Rate for the year was therefore 11.02, as compared with 5.41 during
the previous year.
The rise in the number of infectious diseases during the year
was due almost entirely to the fact that 1959 was a "measles year."
As regards the infectious diseases picture as a whole, I cannot
do better than to quote in full the report which I made to the
meeting of the Public Health Committee held on 23rd February,
1960:
"The following table sets out the infectious diseases notifications during 1959, as compared with the notifications during 1958:
| 1959 | 1958 | |
|---|---|---|
| Scarlet fever | 33 | 56 |
| Measles | 732 | 207 |
| Pertussis | 9 | 12 |
| Pneumonia | 55 | 23 |
| Erysipelas | 4 | 5 |
| Food Poisoning | 3 | 9 |
| Dysentery | 31 | 39 |
| Meningitis | - | 2 |
| Poliomyelitis | 1 | — |
| Paratyphoid fever | — | 1 |
| Typhoid fever | 1 | — |
| Tuberculosis | 25 | 30 |
| 894 | 384 |
The table set out above is particularly interesting for the
following reasons:
1. Scarlet fever notifications have dropped, this time to one
of the lowest totals recorded for many years.
2. As expected, measles notifications were high, 1959 being
a "measles" year. Most of the cases were reported during the
first half of the year, since the incidence of measles no longer
coincides tidily with any particular year. Severity of the illness
was extremely low, the need for removal to hospital being virtually
confined to domestic reasons.
37