London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
East Ham 1951
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for East Ham]
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24
INFECTIOUS DISEASES.
The quarterly returns to the Registrar-General were as follows
| Disease | Qtr. ending 31/3/51 | Qtr. ending 30/6/51 | Qtr. ending 30/9/51 | Qtr. ending 31/12/51 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scarlet Fever | 41 | 51 | 38 | 73 | 203 |
| Whooping Cough | 387 | 116 | 70 | 52 | 625 |
| +Acute Poliomyelitis | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 7 |
| Measles | 1501 | 665 | 24 | 8 | 2198 |
| Diphtheria | - | - | - | - | - |
| Pneumonia | 39 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 58 |
| Dysentery | 260 | 55 | 1 | 5 | 321 |
| Paratyphoid Fever | - | - | 1 | - | 1 |
| Erysipelas | 9 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 19 |
| Meningococcal Infection | - | - | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Food Poisoning | 20 | 2 | 1 | - | 23 |
| Puerperal Pyrexia | - | - | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Ophthalmia Neonatorum | 1 | - | – | - | 1 |
+ Of the seven cases finally diagnosed as Acute Poliomyelitis,
three were paralytic and four non-paralytic.
A report on the cases of food poisoning will be found on page 33.
It Is pleasing to note that for the first time no cases of Diphtheria
were reported within the borough.
In the early part of the year an outbreak, of Sonne Dysentery occurred
in the Day Nurseries, and Investigation of all children and staff was undertaken.
The outbreak of the disease was first reported In the Roman Road
Nursery, and subsequently all nurseries were found to be affected. Some
189 notified cases did not attend, nor were they directly connected with
the nurseries; 94 of this number being school-children and 52 under five
years of age.
With the co-operation of the general practitioner, bacteriological
examinations were carried out for all cases, and contacts where appropriate.
Whooping Cough and Measles followed the trend throughout the country.
The deaths from the seven principal zymotic diseases (Smallpox,
Whooping Cough, Measles, Diphtheria, Diarrhoea, Scarlet Fever and Enteric
Fever) numbered 1, as compared with 4 for the previous year and 6 for 1949.
The zymotic death rate was 0.008 per 1,000 population as compared with
a rate of 0.032 for 1950.
No cases of smallpox were reported.
In the following table the notification rates per 1,000 population
are shewn :-