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 1952
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for East Ham]
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no distinction between them and the children of local residents,, In fact,
the children have quite a full life and broadly speaking are happy and contented
in what, for some of them, is the only home they will know possibly
for many years to come
These children are given as much individual freedom as is possible
consistent with the basic discipline of community life, and it is probable
that in this environment they suffer the minimum of psychic trauma which
was so damaging a feature of old type children's homes„
INFECTIOUS DISEASES.
The quarterly returns to the Registrar-General were as follows:-
| Qtr. ending 31/3/52 | Qtr ending 30/6/52 | Qtr. ending 30/9/52 | Qtr. ending 31/12/52 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scarlet Fever | 109 | 57 | 53 | 124 | 343 |
| Whooping Cough | 95 | 162 | 82 | 22 | 361 |
| +Acute Poliomyelitis | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 10 |
| Measles | 18 | 57 | 257 | 1551 | 1883 |
| Diphtheria | 1 | — | — | — | 1 |
| Pneumonia | 19 | 14 | 5 | 23 | 61 |
| Dysentery | 1 | l | 1 | — | 3 |
| Typhoid Fever | - | l | — | - | 1 |
| Paratyphoid Fever | — | l | - | - | 1 |
| Erysipelas | 4 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 16 |
| Meningococcal Infection | — | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Food Poisoning | — | — | 8 | - | 8 |
| Puerperal Pyrexia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| Ophthalmia Neonatorum | — | 1 | — | — | 1 |
+ Of the 10 cases finally diagnosed as Acute Poliomyelitis 9 were
paralytic and one was non-paralytic.
It was hoped that the absence of diphtheria in East Ham during 1951
would continue during the year under review, but one case was confirmed
during the first quarter of the year.
Notifications of whooping cough and measles decreased considerably as
compared with those for the previous year, thus following the national
trend.
Of the seven cases of puerperal pyrexia, three occurred in domiciliary
confinements and four were notified by hospital medical officers in respect
of mothers having in-patient treatment.
In the one case of ophthalmia neonatorum, the child's vision was not
impaired by the disease.
No cases of pemphigus neonatorum were reported during the year.
The notifications of cases of tuberculosis during the year were:-
| Pulmonary | Males | 60 | 101 |
| Females | 41 | ||
| Non-pulmonary | Males | 8 | |
| Females | 6 | 114 | |
| Total: | 115 | ||
Details of these notifications are set out in Table 7.