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*One removed from district—information on progress not obtainable.
It will be seen from these figures that of 53 cases of paralytic poliomyelitis occurring
during these eight years, 35 recovered completely, regaining full power of every muscle
affected.
In the early part of the year a campaign was inaugurated by the County Health
Department to obtain the registration of children between the ages of two and nine years for
vaccination against poliomyelitis.
Supplies of British vaccine were beginning to be made available, and as soon as registration
was complete a start was made in the County Clinics with the inoculation of selected
groups from among the registered children.
The supply of vaccine was very slow in coming through, and although the number of
children registered was 1,746, at the end of 1956, 189 children had received two injections
and 27 one injection.
It had been hoped that the number of children inoculated during the year would have
given some guidance as to the percentage effectiveness of this treatment, but the number
of vaccinations being very low and also the actual incidence of poliomyelitis being low in this
year, no conclusions could be drawn from the local findings.
Influenza
Influenza was not a problem in 1956.
Dysentery
81 notifications of dysentery were received in 1956. Of these, 66 were received from
St. Bernard's Hospital, where cases of Sonne Dysentery began to occur towards the end of
January. When it was appreciated that several cases had occurred in one ward, and
therefore that an outbreak was likely, the Hospital Control of Infection Committee was
called together, and the Medical Officer of Health brought into consultation. A plan of
action was devised in order to endeavour to contain the infection, but the amount of visiting
and inter-ward traffic in the hospital had by this time enabled some cross-infection to occur,
and as cases were still occurring in new wards in February, it was decided to close the
hospital for visiting and to re-arrange the wards so that admissions could only take place into
wards where no infection had occurred. There was a very heavy programme of bacteriological
investigation carried out in the hospital's laboratory. Staff and patients were
investigated, and no positive case was considered to be clear until three negative faeces
specimens had been obtained. By 16th March, it was possible to re-open the hospital to a
partial extent and the outbreak was cleared by April, the last notification of a confirmed
positive case being received on 20th April, 1956.
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