View report page

20
Report on Anterior Poliomyelitis Cases:
16 cases of anterior poliomyelitis were notified during the year. 11 of these 16 cases were confirmed;
this includes 1 confirmed case of polio-encephalitis. No deaths were recorded as poliomyelitis or polio-encephalitis.
Of the 11 confirmed cases, 8 had slight paralysis and were discharged from hospital to their own home
and remained under the treatment and supervision of the Orthopaedic Department of Stonebridge Health
Centre. 2 cases had severe paralysis, and on discharge from hospital were admitted to the Royal National
Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore. The remaining case had a normal recovery.
Pneumonia and Influenza:
195 cases of pneumonia were notified in 1948, and deaths from bronchial pneumonia, lobar pneumonia
and pneumonia (unspecified) numbered 57. There were 4 deaths from influenza.
Whooping Cough:
435 cases were notified in 1948 (423 confirmed), but a total of 613 came to the knowledge of the health
visitors. 439 were under 5 years of age. There were 2 deaths from whooping cough in 1948 in children between
the ages of 1 and 5 years.
Immunisation against Whooping Cough:
2,087 children had a combined course against diphtheria and whooping cough, and 2,007 were under
5 years of age and 80 between 5 and 15 years of age: 875 were immunised against whooping cough only. The
total number of children immunised against whooping cough was 2,962.
Measles:
1,290 cases were notified in 1948, but a total of 1,490 cases came to the notice of the health visitors, 864
of which occurred in children under 5 years of age. There was 1 death from measles in a child under 1 year
of age during the year.
Measles Prophylaxis (See report on Day Nurseries)
Ophthalmia Neonatorum:
10 cases were notified in 1948, a case rate of .32 per 1,000 registered live births. Complete recovery
with unimpaired vision resulted in all ten cases.
TUBERCULOSIS:
A comparison of the number of cases of pulmonary tuberculosis which actually occurred in the Borough
in the individual wards in 1936-38 with the numbers occurring in 1946-48 shows some interesting features.
The pulmonary tuberculosis rate for the Borough in the period 1936-38 was 1.107 per 1,000 population (ranging
from 0.687 to 1.705 in the various wards), while for the corresponding period of 1946-48 the tuberculosis rate
had increased to 1.427 (range of 1.005 to 2.042), an increase of 0.320 (range of —0.032 to 0.790). (See
Table 1, columns A, B, C and D.)
The increase in the tuberculosis rate is probably a real one, for there was little improvement in diagnostic
facilities during this period. This is illustrated by the fact that 50 per cent of the cases in 1948 were either
undiagnosed or diagnosed after some delay (15.96 per cent were undiagnosed at death and another 34-04 per
cent were only diagnosed within 12 months of death). There is no reason to believe that there was any difference
in the standards of diagnosis and notifications in the different wards. There was no extensive operation of the
mass miniature radiography unit in Willesden during this period.
The major factor in the production of this deterioration in the tuberculosis rate is probably the increase
in the overcrowding of the Borough.
An enquiry was carried out by the Social Survey for the Ministry of Town and Country Planning in the
winter of 1946-47, and a report was published on their findings in December, 1947, entitled " Willesden and
the New Towns." The report said: "A very considerable larger proportion (55 per cent) of Willesden households
were sharing a dwelling with other households than was the case in the London region (25 per cent) or in England
and Wales (7 per cent) (page 1)."
"4 per cent. [that is 1 in every 25 families, and in some districts 1 in every 10] were living in a single
habitable room (page 25)."
There is a high correlation between the figures of the tuberculosis rates and the overcrowding figures
for 1936-38 and 1946-48. Unfortunately, the figures for the two periods are not strictly comparable as the
data of 1936 referred to the number of families overcrowded according to the Ministry of Health standards,
while the figures for 1948 referred to the number of persons per room according to the Borough Engineer's
estimate after an extensive survey of the area, which was based on random sampling of houses and population.
(See Table 1, columns A, C, H, I.)
The four wards with the largest increase were Church End, Mapesbury, Willesden Green and Harlesden,
with a range of 0.517 to 0.790 (compared with an increase of 0.320 for the Borough as a whole), while the
four lowest were Roundwood, Brondesbury Park, Kensal Rise and Neasden with a range of —0.032 to 0.072.
(See Table 2, columns A, B, C and D.)