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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Wood Green 1959
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Wood Green]
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PREVALENCE AND CONTROL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES
From the table of infectious diseases set out on page 40, it
will be seen that 360 cases of infectious diseases were notified
during the year as against 651 in 1958.
The fall in the number of infectious diseases during the year
was due almost entirely to the fact that 1959 was not a "measles
year".
As regards the infectious diseases picture as a whole, I
cannot do better than to quote in full the report which I made to
the meeting of the Health and Cleansing Committee held on the
26th February 1960:-
"The following table sets out the notifiable infectious diseases for the years 1959 and 1958:-
| 1959 | 1958 | |
|---|---|---|
| Scarlet Fever | 28 | 77 |
| Diphtheria | - | - |
| Cerebro-Spinal Fever | - | - |
| Enteric or Typhoid Fever | - | 1 |
| Paratyphoid Fever | 3 | - |
| Erysipelas | 1 | 1 |
| Pneumonia | 46 | 34 |
| Acute Poliomyelitis | 7 | 2 |
| Acute Encephalitis | 1 | - |
| Puerperal Pyrexia | - | 1 |
| Pulmonary Tuberculosis | 42 | 30 |
| Non-pulmonary Tuberculosis | 3 | 3 |
| Malaria | - | - |
| Measles | 169 | 421 |
| Whooping Cough | 16 | 40 |
| Ophthalmia Neonatorum | - | - |
| Dysentery | 35 | 40 |
| Food Poisoning | 9 | 1 |
| Smallpox | - | - |
| 360 | 651 |
"After a rise in the number of scarlet fever notifications
during 1958, in 1959 the number again fell to a low figure
comparable to the small number of cases notified since 1954.
"Most of the cases of measles notified during 1958 were
in the latter quarter of the year. whereas those for 1959 were
mainly within the first month or two being the end of the
1958 measles outbreak. The nature of the illness was extremely
mild. The need for removal to hospital was virtually confined
to those cases removed for domestic reasons.
"Once more there was a very low incidence of whooping cough
(pertussis). Although statistical evidence is not available,
32