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7
PREFACE
Public Health Offices,
Ilford.
September, 1952.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the Borough of Ilford.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I submit herewith the Annual Report on the Health Services for the
year 1951.
During the year a high standard of health was maintained and our
indices bear comparison with those of any town in England. The Infant
Mortality Rate, however, although better than in most places, records a
slight set back, and this matter is discussed more fully later on in the preface
with the topic of prematurity.
The death rate has also risen slightly, from 9-66 to 10-32 per 1,000 of
the population. As mentioned last year, this is largely due to the greater
proportion of old people amongst us; cancer, vascular diseases of the nervous
system and deaths of old people from bronchitis and pneumonia, largely a
result of the 1950-1951 influenza, in themselves being responsible for a total
increase of 132 deaths.
The fall in the birth rate appears to have halted, for there was a slight
rise, from 13-19 to 13-36.
There was a welcome absence of any serious epidemic; again there was
only one case of diphtheria, a boy of 5, who recovered. There were two
cases of poliomyelitis, one of whom died. Measles, with 2,985 cases, an
increase over last year, was also responsible for one death, and whooping
cough, with 1,026 notifications, less than last year, was responsible for two
deaths. There were six cases of enteric fever, with no deaths.
An explanation is required of the vagaries of the figures of the population
of Ilford. In June, 1950, it was stated to be 186,200, the census figure of
April 8th, 1951, was 184,707, and in June, 1951, we were told it was 181,600.
We are informed by the General Register Office that these figures do not
mean that the population is decreasing, but that the June, 1950, numbers
are less accurate than the Census totals, and the June, 1951, figures are less
than those of the Census as many enumerated in April were not normally
resident in the town, and other slight adjustments had to be made.
Notification of Puerperal Pyrexia.
At one time death after childbirth due to infection of the birth passages
was a great scourge, especially in hospitals; with a more complete understanding
of the nature of the transmission from mother to mother, via the
attendant, with the introduction of antiseptics, insistence on asepsis, and
finally with the introduction of antibiotics such as Penicillin, the disease has
dropped to negligible proportions, and last year there were no deaths in
Ilford of mothers attributable to childbirth.
When the disease was prevalent notification was introduced in order to
facilitate its control, and, as the nature of the disease changed in response to
newer methods of treatment, the Puerperal Pyrexia Regulations were also
modified, the latest form of the Regulations coming into effect on August 1st,
1951. These declare that any fever in a woman in whom a temperature of
100-4° Fahrenheit occurs within 14 days of childbirth must be notified. It
must be remembered that the object of these Regulations is to control infections