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regions. By February 11th the Emergency Bed Service red warning was
replaced by the yellow warning, and was itself cancelled on March 10th.
In May there occurred a number of localised outbreaks in residential
schools and institutions in Yorkshire. These were due to virus B.
In the last days of the year, a forty-eight hour influenza attacked
many people, more especially school children. This, and the prevailing
harsh weather, resulted in a large number of deaths, especially of the
elderly. Twenty-four notifications were received of people suffering from
influenzal pneumonia; influenza caused eighteen deaths.
Vaccination. Influenza is caused not only by different types of
virus but these types have different strains. It can be assumed that a
vaccine specific to the prevalent strain is more likely to be effective than
others. As yet, vaccine to produce immunity against prevalent influenza
has not attained the level of efficacy of those against some other infections.
The highest degree of protection in the most favourable circumstances has
been seventy-five per cent. In ordinary use the vaccine containing the
right strains and given at the right times should protect forty to sixty per
cent of the recipients. In general, antibody resulting from inoculation lasts
only a few months. While the question of whether an individual should be
inoculated against influenza is a matter for him and his doctor to decide,
the Chief Medical Officer of the Ministry of Health in September drew
attention to the advice given by the Joint Committee on Poliomyelitis
Vaccine about vaccination against influenza. The vaccine recommended
is a combined influenza A and B vaccine, the most important component
being A strain. The main points of the Committee's advice are:—1. The
routine immunisation of all sections of the population is not recommended.
2. Routine vaccination should, at the doctors' discretion, be advised only
for patients suffering from certain chronic diseases where an attack of
influenza might be dangerous. Instances are patients with chronic pulmonary,
heart or renal disease or diabetes or other endocrine disorders
and expectant mothers, particularly those suffering from chronic lung or
heart disease. 3. In the event of a threat of a large epidemic, prionty
should be given to the vaccination of special groups, including nurses,
hospital staff, general medical practitioners, public safety, transport and
utility services and workers in essential trades and industry where a break
in continuity or production might result in severe economic loss. But the
routine annual immunisation of these groups is not recommended since
it could not be expected to make a significant contribution to the contro
of outbreaks.
Venereal Diseases
The following is an extract from the Annual Report of the Chief
Medical Officer of the Ministry of Health for I960—"The spread of
veneral diseases is promoted by two allies—promiscuity and prostitutionand
so long as these continue to be practised to the present extent it is
unlikely there will be any improvement in the general situation. Part