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56
Most of the notifications received concern children of school
age and under, requiring treatment at home with appropriate segregation
during the carrier stage either by exclusion from school or
day nursery. No effort is spared to prevent the spread of the disease
and there is close liaison with general medical practitioners who are
kept fully informed of developments including up-to-date information
as to drug sensitivity of organisms.
An essential and important factor undertaken by the public
health inspectors is the opportunity to stress the necessity for personal
hygiene, especially to those concerned with food handling and
the care of young children. Every effort is also made to ensure that
personal hygiene is intensified and adhered to during outbreaks.
Furthermore, everything possible is done to prevent contact of individuals,
in particular children, with persons outside the infected home
until the whole family is free from infection.
Measures such as these tend to decrease the spread of the disease
and also act as an education in personal hygiene.
Tuberculosis.
In accordance with the national trend the number of new cases of
tuberculosis notified continues to be satisfactorily low. In 1961 in
Kingston 14 eases were reported, 13 of which referred to the lungs.
The same number of oases were reported for i960.
Whilst we can claim that fear and pessimism concerning tuberculosis
has been largely removed from people® s minds; that statistics
show a declining death rate and a satisfactory reduction in the number
of new cases there are, however, many cases on the register receiving
treatment and attention at the Chest Clinic.
It is, therefore, necessary, to remember that breakdown and infectivity
are continually possible in these eases. It is to be hoped
that in due course the continued effects of improved living conditions
of the populace, continued advances in therapeutic treatment, facility
for early detection of tuberculosis by public mass x-ray sessions and
B.C.G. vaccination of school children will eventually bring this disease
to the point of eradication.
Table of notified eases and deaths for 1952 - 1961 overleaf.