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PREVALENCE AND CONTROL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES
The drop In the number of Infectious diseases notified during
the year was due almost entirely to the low incidence of measles
1958 not being a "measles year" Indeed apart from the decrease
in measles notifications the infectious diseases notifications for
1958 showed no material difference from those recorded during the
previous year
I can add very little to the paragraphs contained in my Report
for 1957 which dealt with the notification of infectious diseases
and with the question of epidemiology as a socialogical entity
I am still of the opinion that the present system of notification
should be reviewed in its entirety in the light of present knowledge
and experience Two facts are becoming increasingly obvious Although
it is very right that we should continue at least for the time
being to receive notification of even the milder type of infectious
diseases it would seem that there is at least a proportion of dead
wood which could profitably be removed What is more important
much more important certain diseases some of them non infectious
might well be added to the list of diseases which are at present
reported to the Public Health Department. This is not of course
a matter which has only local significance but rather falls within
the description of a national problem If the Public Health Depart
ment and the Borough Council are concerned with all matters which
affect the health of the inhabitants of the Borough and this has
been clearly established then it surely follows logically that
we should have the fullest possible information not only of conditions
which are likely to affect health but of diseases which are
materially influencing not only the health and welfare but the
lives of young and old Thus although we know at any time at
least with some degree of accuracy how many cases of scarlet fever
or measles are occurring in the district we normally have to wait
until the receipt of a death certificate before we are made aware
of cases of such diseases as cancer acute fatal rheumatism and heart
disease Yet we are perfectly well aware that scarlet fever is an
extremely mild disease today while in the case of measles as I
have said before we need do little more than act as a post office
When one considers the question of poliomyelitis and multiple
sclerosis perhaps the commonest of all nervous diseases in this
country today an interesting fact emerges We know that multiple
sclerosis is directly responsible for approximately 800 deaths
every year while poliomyelitis usually accounts for something
between 200 and 300 annual deaths It is certainly a fact that we
know a great deal about acute anterior poliomyelitis while our
knowledge of the aetiology and treatment of multiple sclerosis
still presents a very great problem I merely give this comparison
to show that diseases which are not necessarily infectious in the
commonly accepted sense of the term should not merely because of
their non infectious nature remain unknown in the community Even
if we still have to wait until research and modern science have
provided us with the weapons with which to deal with such diseases
as coronary thrombosis teukaemia multiple sclerosis cancer to
mention only some of the more serious disorders in this category
we would still like to have some approximate. idea of the magnitude
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