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The Circular continues:—
"An intensive effort must, therefore, be made to achieve
the level of immunisation necessary to secure the full benefit
of the campaign; if parents leave their children unprotected
there may be a return of diphtheria outbreaks, and there have
been several sharp reminders of this possibility during the
last twelve months. The fear of diphtheria has declined among
parents in a direct relation to the decline of the disease itself;
the majority of parents of young children nowadays have
never seen or heard of a case of diphtheria among their
neighbours' children and are more afraid of illnesses they
know than of the dangers of diphtheria. It cannot be said too
often by Medical Officers of Health in their Annual Reports
and public utterances that ' diphtheria still kills' and that
elimination of this disease is conditional upon the maintenance
of an adequate level of immunisation. But for these
timely reminders the general public will often be under the
impression that all is well, and that they themselves, as parents
of young children, have no part to play in protecting their
children and so help to maintain a proper level of immunisation.
Sustained publicity by local authorities is therefore
essential if parents are to be helped to realise that diphtheria
is still a deadly threat, and to be persuaded to have their
children immunised. An organised system of personal persuasion
in which doctors, health visitors, district nurses, staffs
of welfare centres, and voluntary workers play their part is
still the most powerful element in any local campaign.
Authorities are also reminded of the assistance which is available
in many areas, on request, from the St. John Ambulance
Brigade, the British Red Cross Society and the Women's
Voluntary Services, who have many opportunities of speaking
to the parents of young children in the ordinary course of
their work."
IMMUNISATION AGAINST WHOOPING COUGH
The Medical Research Council's trials ended in June, 1951,
and the final report in regard to the trials is awaited. The use
of "Glaxo" vaccine continued with good results, the numbers
of completed cases being set out on the following page. Immunisation
is restricted to infants under 18 months old.