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Premature Infants
Forty-nine premature infants were born during the year, 8 at home and 41 at hospital;
of these 43 survived to the end of one month. The classification of premature infant is
given to a child born prematurely, or which weighs less than 5½ lbs. at birth.
Maternal Morbidity
During the year 7 cases of puerperal pyrexia were notified. There was one
maternal death, but no death associated with abortion.
PREVALENCE OF, AND CONTROL OVER, INFECTIOUS
AND OTHER DISEASES

The incidence of all the other notifiable diseases was greater than in 1949. There was
double the number of cases notified of whooping cough, with one fatality. The type of
cases was of a milder nature and the number of deaths from notifiable infectious diseases
was 24, as compared with 37 the previous year. The only figures which show some improvement
are those for dysentery and poliomyelitis. The number of poliomyelitis cases
occurring was 6 only, with no infective polio-encephalitis. Two of these cases were nonparalytic
and discharged from hospital in a very short time with no complications or aftereffects.
Four cases showed residual paralysis, details being as follows:—
Case A. Paralysis of left leg At the end of year still improving but
likely to have remaining disability.
Case B. Paralysis of both legs At end of year still improving with
remaining only slight weakness in left
leg.
Case C. Paralysis in arms, legs, dorsal, lumbar At end of year continuing to improve, arms
and abdominal muscles almost complete recovery, dorsal and
lumbar muscles almost complete recovery,
legs still paralysed.
Case D. Paralysis of right leg, dorsal, lumbar At end of year continuing to improve,
and abdominal muscles still some paralysis in right leg.
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