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VI. PREVALENCE OF. AND CONTROL OVER INFECTIOUS AND OTHER
DISEASES
Weather Conditions
January was exceptionally cold, in fact it was the coldest January
in London since 1838. Snow lay throughout the month and there were ice
floes on the Thames near London Bridge. February continued very cold,
with snow or sleet falling on 20 days. Temperatures in March reverted
to norma1, with much rain, April being typically changeable. May too
was changeable and rather cool. It was the dullest and wettest June
since 1958 but the Whit sun weekend was the sunniest for 14 years.
July was dry and warmed up towards the end of the month. August
and September including the Bank Holiday had dull, cold weather. A dry
October with normal temperatures preceded one of the mildest Novembers on
record, with fog on four days. The driest year for 10 years concluded,
with a dry and rather cold December.
Notifications
The number of notified cases of infectious diseases (corrected for
revised diagnosis and duplicate notifications) during the year, was 1,564.
Table 15 on page 76 shows cases notified together with comparative
figures over the last 10 years. A list of diseases which are notifiable
in the County of London is shown in Table 18 on page 78.
Liaison is maintained with general practitioners and hospitals in
the area, and a monthly bulletin is circulated to them giving information
of infectious diseases occurring in the Borough during the month, the
number of claimants for sickness benefit obtained from the local National
Health Insurance Office, and other relevant information from time to time.
Cancer
The number of deaths from cancer during the year was 240. Deaths
from lung cancer numbered 71, being five more than in 1962. The male
death rate from lung cancer in England and Wales increased from 567 per
million population in 1952 to 908 in 1963, the female death rate being
increased from 98 to 152 in the same period.
The main conclusions of a United States Public Health Service
Report on smoking and lung cancer correspond closely to the Report
of the Royal College of Physicians, though couched in some respects in
stronger terms. The former Report states that "Cigarette smoking is
causally related to lung cancer in men: the magnitude of the effect of
cigarette smoking far outweighs all other factors."
The Children and Young Persons Act 1963, which comes into force on
1st February 1964., increases tenfold or more the penalties for selling
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