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68
SOME NON-NOTIFIABLE INFECTIONS
German Measles.
The well known connection between German Measles in pregnant
women and congenital defects in their babies inevitably leads during an
epidemic of German Measles to some understandable anxiety in the
prospective mothers. In this connection, two points may be stressed:—
1. Any female child who is suspected of having German Measles
should have medical confirmation of this and if the diagnosis is
confirmed some record should be made by the parent of this
fact for future reference. Too many female children give a
history of possible or probable German Measles where no
medical confirmation has been obtained.
2. It should be remembered that the administration of gammaglobulin
to a mother in the early months of pregnancy where
there is a risk of contracting German Measles only protects her
for three weeks at the most.
INFLUENZA
Immunisation.
The present position regarding this is that while the protection
conferred by immunisation is of brief duration (about 3-6 months) there
is a case for immunising certain groups of the population in whom a
contact of influenza might aggravate their disability or prove fatal. Such
groups include:—
(a) Chronic Lung disease, e.g. chronic bronchitis, asthma,
bronchiectasis, pulmonary tuberculosis.
(b) Chronic heart disease.
(c) Chronic kidney disease.
(d) Diabetes and possibly other endocrine disorders.
The only type of vaccine recommended is an inactivated influenza
A+B Saline vaccine, and it should be given during the early part of
the autumn.
TETANUS
The "first aid" prevention of tetanus is usually by the administration
of anti-tetanic serum. This is known to have certain disadvantages,
whereas the prophylactic use of tetanus toxoid either separately, or in the
combined form ("Triple" vaccine or Quadrillin) has no similar disadvantages.
Ideally, if a child known to be protected with tetanus toxoid
sustained an injury, all that should be necessary would be the administration
of a booster dose of tetanus toxoid. Unfortunately, too often, the
immunisation state of the child is unknown, at the time of the accident,
and anti-tetanic serum has to be given in the absence of this information.
3,181 children were given a primary course of immunisation against
tetanus and 2,471 were given a booster.