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Administration of Prontosil alba, the new therapeutic agent of use in
the treatment of streptococcal infections, of which scarlatina is a typical
example, was continued in the Isolation Hospital during the year. An analysis
of the results of this treatment is contained in the report on the Isolation
Hospital.
Diphtheria.
There were 99 cases of diphtheria notified as compared with 119 in 1937.
Ninety cases were removed to the Isolation Hospital. There were eight deaths
from diphtheria of residents during the year.
Several of the cases were of a severe type and this accounts for the high
fatality rate.
Dipththeria Prevention.
It was mentioned in the Report for 1935 that the Ministry of Health
had approved a scheme for the immunisation of children against diphtheria.
The scheme may best be explained by reproducing the wording of a
pamphlet which has been distributed through the health centres and clinics,
and which is as follows:—
DIPHTHERIA PREVENTION
DIPHTHERIA IS A SERIOUS DISEASE. OF THOSE ATTACKED, ABOUT ONE
IN TWELVE DIES. CHILDREN ARE MORE SUSCEPTIBLE THAN ADULTS, AND
YOUNG CHILDREN MORE THAN OLDER CHILDREN. It is now possible to prevent
diphtheria in the vast majority of cases, and where it is not completely prevented the disease
takes a relatively mild form.
The Council of the Borough of Southall has arranged that children between the ages of
one and 14, whose parents or guardians so wish, and who are not taken to their own doctor for
the purpose, may be inoculated against diphtheria, if they are not already immune.
Whether children are already immune to the ordinary dose of diphtheria infection may
be shown by a simple skin test. Since however very few children below the age of seven years have
obtained this immunity, this test will only be done on children over that age. If the test is
negative nothing further is required for the child. If the test is positive, or if the child is below
seven years of age, an attempt should be made to immunise the child against diphtheria.
This, in nine cases out of ten, can be brought about by the injection of a small dose or
doses of a special preparation. With some preparations a course of three injections is needed;
with others only one injection is required. A few weeks elapse before the injections take complete
effect, but in every case, about three months after the last injection, a skin test will be done
to see if the child has been sufficiently immunised. If so, a certificate to this effect will be given;
if not, a further injection will be advisable.
The injections themselves are practically painless. In some cases a little hard lump may
remain for many weeks. Very occasionally, in especially susceptible children, there will be some
redness round the site of the injection and perhaps a little swelling or tenderness in that area,
or the child may feel out of sorts for a day. These symptoms very quickly clear up and leave
the child quite well. In any event the number of such cases is very small indeed and they
practically never occur in young children.
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