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59
Mumps
Many schools were affected by mumps in the spring term, though
not heavily. In a few schools there were further cases in the summer
term. During the last term of the year though, only two schools were
affected, neither of which had been involved in the earlier part of the
year. In all 379 intimations were received.
German Measles
Only 29 intimations of cases of german measles were received in
the course of the year. These were almost invariably pupils at schools
which the earlier ordinary type of measles was attacking.
Influenza
In the latter part of 1954 influenza due to Virus B prevailed in various
parts of the country in the north and the west, attacking mostly school
children with a mild illness which lasted a few days only. The wave
passed through the country to reach London, the south east and the
south by January. By then adults were being affected. This area
was attacked in the latter part of January and in February. There was
at this time much ill-defined illness and by the middle of February quite
a number of influenzal pneumonia notifications were being received.
The outbreak, however, never became serious. In all 37 notifications of
influenzal pneumonia were received.
8 deaths were attributed to influenza, mostly amongst those over
55 years of age.
TUBERCULOSIS
Notifications
Any patient notified as suffering from one of the acute notifiable
conditions probably has contracted the infection about that time. Because
of the very indefinite onset of the illness, this is not the case in tuberculosis;
a patient recognised today to be suffering from the infection may in fact
have contracted it some considerable time earlier. For this reason the
notifications received in any one year do not necessarily indicate the
number of persons who in fact succumbed to the disease in that year.
A complication arises in the case of those who move into the district
suffering from an attack which has already been recognised, the patient
having in fact been notified in the other district. The notification
regulations require a doctor to notify any patient suffering from a notifiable
disease to the Medical Officer of Health of the district in which the patient
is residing. When such a patient then moves into a new district, the
doctor under whose care he comes should notify the case. This
notification is new to the new district and is therefore added to the number
of cases notified. Each Medical Officer of Health is required to send to
the Registrar-General every week figures of the notifications received in
that week. For some little time now the figures of the cases of tuberculosis
notified have been included in these weekly returns. The RegistrarGeneral
has asked that the numbers included in these returns should in
future relate only to those cases notified for the first time. This figure
for any district is that of the notifications received in that district in