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a certain degree, especially in the matter of intestinal infections
such as Sonne Dysentery, but the basic principles upon which our
control of infectious diseases has its foundation cannot, indeed
should not, yet be altered
There is also the known fact that the terra "epidemiology"
which, broadly speaking covers the incidence and spread of disease,
is no longer concerned solely with the infectious element.
We want to know-and how desperate our need for knowledge isthe
reason behind the comparatively sudden increase in the incid
ence of cardiac illness and lung cancer and the even more tragic
increase in deaths from the same types of diseases. We also lack
information on the types of illness which are more particularly
prevalent among the population in different age groups in both
sexes, and in different occupations At present, our information
is availaele only from general practitioners, from death certificates
and in part at least, from the Ministry of Employment and
National Insurance On paper this may sound very well.Actually,
the information we receive can only be fragmentary and is often
out of date before it comes to hand When and only when this
problem is tackled as it deserves to be tackled, as it must be
tackled, can it be truly said that we are covering the field of
epidemiology in an adequate manner, I have already remarked that
so far as Wood Green is concerned, it does appear at least on
the surface, that there are no specific conditions within the
Borough which encourage special diseases. This however is not
enough A health programme which is to be successful can only be
planned and brought to fruition if the fullest possible informa
tion is in the hands of those whose duty it is to perform this
quite substantial task Need I say that this problem has not es
caped notice, that only the gigantic nature of the problem itself,
and the obvious difficulties in surmounting the known obstacles
have so far prevented ready solution. It is to be hoped however,
that,the .part which the epidemiologist of the future can play in
regulating health and preventing disease will soon be even more
fully and readily appreciated by all who have a part to play in
this great, this fundamental task.
Diphtheria
For the eighth year in succession no case of diphtheria was
notified in the Borough The last death took place in 1939
The immunisation programme carried out in Wood Green by the
Middlesex County Council has only been altered in minor respects
to ensure that maximum use is being made of scientific advances
Although it is difficult to obtain precise figures as to the percentage
of children protected against diphtheria by immunisation
in Wood Green,-it is clear that this figure must be well over 60%
so far as children up to the age of two are concerned. Indeed,
the latest figures available showed the percentage to be somewhere
in the region of 68%, When it is remembered that every child in
Wood Green attending a private or maintained school is offered a
reinforcing or a boosting" dose of immunising material when he
or she enters school, and that the invitation is repeated when
the child reaches the age of ten,and when it is further remembered
that the percentage of parents taking advantage of these offers
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