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It is perhaps worth while noting that it is suspected that many of
these infections are so mild that medical advice is not sought and consequently
notifications are not made.
Immunisation.
3,022 primary immunisations and 1,852 "booster" doses were given
during the year. The importance of the "booster" at 18 months is being
emphasised.
ENTERIC FEVER
The outbreak of typhoid in Switzerland, followed in 1964 by its
occurrence in Aberdeen, emphasised the need for constant vigilance with
regard to all aspects in the preparation of food.
During the Aberdeen outbreak, which was associated with a can of
corned beef from the Argentine, certain consignments originating from
the canning plant concerned had to be traced and withdrawn from stock
in all food establishments in the country. In Harrow, details of the consignment
code numbers were sent to all food establishments and followed
up with a personal visit from the Public Health Inspectors. All suspect
cans were removed.
The lady mentioned in previous reports still remains a carrier of
para-typhoid and is excluded from filling her occupation as a cook.
There were no cases of typhoid in the Borough and only one case
of para-typhoid was notified during the year.
MEASLES
There were 836 notifications of measles in 1964, compared with
1,868 in 1963. As about 5% of cases develop one or other of the recognised
complications of the disease, an effective vaccine would be a
worth while advance.
The Medical Research Council had been carrying out trials with
measles vaccine on a small scale. These trials were promising but gave
no information on the protective efficacy of the two schedules used, viz:
(1) one dose of live vaccine;
(2) one dose of killed vaccine
+ one dose of live vaccine.
It was considered that it was time to assess the capacity of the
vaccines to reduce the incidence of measles, and to determine the duration
of the protection. This required a trial in much larger numbers or
children.
The timing of this new trial was critical since an epidemic was
expected early in 1965 and, unless the trial was held in 1964, there would
be no possibility in the future of gauging the efficiency of different
vaccines or of investigating the associated epidemiological problems.