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Number of persons given reinforcing dose of SALK vaccine .. 1,765
Number of persons given reinforcing dose of ORAL vaccine .. 1,983
WHOOPING COUGH
During the year 105 cases of whooping cough were notified. It is
difficult to know whether these were all true cases of the disease as
normally the diagnosis is made symptomatically and not confirmed
bacteriologically. Recently it has been noted that other viruses can cause
similar symptoms of whooping cough and yet have no evidence of infection
with the actual whooping cough virus.
The degree of immunity given by whooping cough vaccine is in the
order of 80%, and in the remaining 20% a mild form of the disease would
probably occur—not in itself a bad thing as the subsequent immunity wi
be of a high degree. It is now suggested that agents other than whoopm?
cough virus can produce symptoms resembling whooping cough, an
unless confirmed by laboratory investigation the actual numbers o
notifications of cases of whooping cough may not give the true picture o
the disease in a particular district.
Immunisation.
2,846 primary immunisations and 725 "booster" doses were given
during the year. The importance of the "booster" at 18 months is being
emphasised.
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