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5
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE
MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH
To His Worship the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the Borough of
Harrow.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I beg to submit the Annual Report on the Health and Sanitary
Circumstances of the District for the year 1958.
This Report is interim in character only, though an extra chapter
has been included which brings up to date the vital statistics of the district
for the last five years.
This last year was again in general, a healthy one. These days two
infections in particular might be prevalent. Of these, the incidence of
poliomyelitis was especially light, there being only three cases in the course
of the year. While the poor weather might have been an important factor
in restraining the rise of incidence in the Summer and Autumn, the
extent to which immunisation has been carried out must have been a
contributory factor. The other infection liable at times to explosive
incidence is influenza. This year was not one of high prevalence. The
weather conditions were not those which especially favoured fog or
smog so that there was freedom from the respiratory complications of
these phenomena. The number of infant deaths is now relatively so small
that wide fluctuations can occur without these being of any special
significance, fluctuations which cause correspondingly large changes in
the infant mortality rate. The local rate of 17.0, though higher than that
of the previous year, is still well below the national rate of 22.5, even though
this was the lowest recorded for this country. Though not to the same
extent as had been the case in the previous year, most of these infant
deaths occurred amongst those who had been born in hospital.
Neither measles nor whooping cough was prevalent. It is quite
unusual these days to have to record a death from either complaint which
so recently were the scourges of early childhood. One occurred this year
from measles in a mongol who had a congenital defect of the heart.
Scarlet fever remained of low prevalence, what few cases there were being
mild in character. The district was free for another year from diphtheria,
this being the eighth consecutive year. The position in regard to tuberculosis
continues to improve. There was a further fall in the number of
deaths due to this complaint, a large drop in the number of new cases
notified, and for the second time it is possible to record a fall not only in
the numbers of those on the tuberculosis register but a fall in each sex
both for respiratory and non-respiratory complaints.
The credit for this satisfactory state of affairs must be shared by many.
Much is due to the fact that this district is in the part of the country
where it is rather than in the harsher north, a lot to the fact that much of
it is of recent development so that in general housing is good and the
district well planned of low density. Some of it is due to the general
standard of living, part of it to the district's freedom from heavy industry
which in less favoured districts pollutes the atmosphere. Much of the