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8
Immunisations.
Last year there were 1,545 primary vaccinations against smallpox.
When it is considered that there were in that year 2,115 births, it will be
recognised that the immunisation rate must be approaching 75 per cent.
This is a rate for smallpox vaccination of which any community in this
country can be proud.
Changes are to come about in diphtheria immunisation. As a result
of investigations carried out in this country it has been shown that a certain
diphtheria antigen known as A.P.T. is liable to cause a localisation of
paralysis in an arm where the injection has been given, if the child has
already been infected with Poliomyelitis. The Ministry of Health has now
informed us that A.P.T. will no longer be used in official schemes and that
the choice will now rest between two other antigens, F.T. and T.A.F. In
Ilford we are rather lucky in that A.P.T. has never been used in our clinics
but we have continued to use T.A.F. since the scheme was started many
years ago by Dr. Burton.
Poliomyelitis.
An unusual feature of the poliomyelitis last year was the fact that in
Ilford it did not occur mainly in the so-called polio season, that is, the
late summer and autumn, but most of the cases occurred in the winter.
This has caused many people to worry about the coming year and we have
been rather disturbed by certain suggestions that we might have a large
outbreak.
Poliomyelitis vaccination, after some teething troubles, got under way
and is now proceeding very satisfactorily except that there is not as much
vaccine for distribution as we would like. It is rather strange that last
year, when people were asked to volunteer, when it was a new effort, of
those who were within the age groups concerned, 29 per cent volunteered.
In spite of the fact that polio immunisation is now well-established and
shown to be quite harmless, this year, when we are asking two new age
groups—those born in 1955 and those born in 1956—to be registered,
only 57 per cent of those eligible have done so. This compares with the
position in Denmark, where over 90 per cent of those asked not only
volunteered, but were actually vaccinated. One wonders if this percentage
of 57 will be enough, should the vaccination be completely successful, to
abolish the disease from this country.
This year we have so far had somewhat more poliomyelitis than usual,
although not as much as we have had in certain past years. The outbreak
is rather unusual in that it is practically confined so far to two areas—a
part in the north of the town between Tomswood Hill and Fencepiece
Road, and another group amongst students attending Barley Lane School
or their contacts. It has unfortunately been necessary to recommend that
pupils attending Barley Lane School should not this year attend their
summer camp, as there is a possibility that this condition may spread more
easily in the sanitary conditions which appertain to camp life.
Certain other causes of death.
Cancer.—It is good to note that in spite of the increase in the proportion
of old folk amongst us, the number of deaths from cancer
diminished from 391 to 366. This was not due to a diminution of cancer
of the lung. The readers of this preface will, since 1951, have noted that
we have frequently drawn attention to the association between heavy cigarette
smoking and cancer of the lung. The rate for this disease in Ilford
has risen from 0.407 deaths per 1000 to 0.481 in 1956. We have a larger
rate in Ilford in this disease than in the country as a whole, where it is
0.407. The major importance of this condition is further shown by the
results of the visit last year of the Mass Radiography Unit. Mass