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—during the past year. Over 900 children have now been
inoculated in Wembley and each child is being visited monthly
by special investigators who keep careful notes of all coughs and
colds and of any cases of Whooping Cough which occur in the
vaccinated children. The investigation—the plan of which was
described in the Report for 1946—continued to the end of the year
and it is hoped it will be possible to present conclusive evidence of
the efficacy or otherwise of the vaccines used. The Medical
Research Council—who are running this investigation in collaboration
with the Medical Officer of Health—have been greatly encouraged
in this new method of approach to problems of preventive
medicine by the interest and co-operation of the parents in Wembley,
who are themselves active collaborators in the investigation,
and already that collaboration has led to increased knowledge of
the mode of spread and of methods of early diagnosis.
7. DAY NURSERIES. The incidence of the infectious
diseases is again tabulated. Any case of Whooping Cough or
Measles in a day nursery appears to offer a focus from which
infection can spread, but the numbers of cases notified during the
year are not so large as to cause undue apprehension.
8. FOOD POISONING. Nine cases of food poisoning
were notified and food poisoning has shown some general increase
in the last few years. This may be due to more communal feeding,
to difficulties in maintaining the highest standards in personal
hygiene and in the processing of food products. The
intimate association between the Central Public Health Laboratory
at Colindale and the Public Health Department should assist in
solving some of the food poisoning problems and helping in their
prevention, but co-operation at every angle is necessary. Information
should be given at the earliest possible time, samples of
relevantly suspected food should be preserved and submitted for
examination, and even then it is not always possible to ascertain
the cause.
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