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For the ninth year in succession no case of diphtheria was
notified in the Borough the last death took place in 1939 In
1906 74 cases of diphtheria were notified with nine deaths In
1931 39 cases were notified although happily all recovered, It
is interesting to note that in 1931 immunisation had been the
practice in Wood Green for just over two years, more than 1 100
children having been immunised
Seventeen cases of scarlet fever were notified during 1956,
the totals for the past four years being 66 61, 26 and 17 respectively
In 1906, no fewer than 224 cases of scarlet fever were
reported, with seven deaths In 1931 the number of cases reported
was 97, with one death
Measles only became a notifiable disease in 1940. so that
comparable statistics for 1906 and 1931arenot available. Present
evidence would show, however, that the incidence of measles has
not materially altered, the disease occurring in epidemic form
every second year. Very much the same remarks apply to pertussis
(whooping cough)
With regard to tuberculosis. 63 cases of tuberculosis were
notified during 1956 as against 67 in 1955 Although the tuberculosis
figures for 1906 are not entirely clear, it would seem
that 43 deaths occurred from tuberculosis that year,whereas only
two deaths occurred in 1956 Forty-two deaths were certified as
due to tuberculosis in 1931,
From these figures it will be seen that the changes occurring
in the various common notifiable infectious diseases differ
widely Diphtheria has almost disappeared from among the population,
largely due one must presume, but not entirely, to the great
drive in immunisation Scarlet fever notifications have dropped
appreciably But that is by no means all. Scarlet fever was once
an extremely serious disease, resulting in many unfortunate deaths.
Scarlet fever today is little more than a trifling illness, seldom
lasting more than ten days or a fortnight, and often not requiring
the removal of the affected child to hospital In this
connection one must remember that a similar drop in virulence
was noted during the late Victorian era We must therefore be on
our guard for a possible return of the type of scarlet fever which
so many of us remember, realising that this disease, which has
little more than nuisance value today,may at any time resume its
former character. Measles, although just as prevalent in 1956 as
it presumably was in 1906, has also declined in severity Few
children require admission to hospital, complications, particularly
broncho -pneumonia and middle ear disease, which formerly gave this
disease its terrors, having largely vanished The incidence of
pertussis has also apparently declined due in fact, one may venture
to assume, to the vast numbers of children now immunised during
the first few months of life Whooping cough, however, still remains
one of the most deadly diseases of infancy and early childhood
This is surely a cogent reason for continuing our present
policy of immunisation which, although it may not provide full
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