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To the Chairman and Members of the Chigwell
Urban District Council
THE CHAIRMAN, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,
I have pleasure in presenting the Annual Report of the
Medical Officer of Health for the year 1959, which includes the report
of the Chief Public Health Inspector.
VITAL STATISTICS.
The birth-rate is the same as last year, but there has
been a small increase in the death-rate mainly due to more deaths from
cancer, coronary disease, angina, and bronchitis.
There were 15 accidental deaths, compared with 8 last year.
It is important to observe that not one of the 6 road deaths included
in this figure was of a child, whereas of the 9 remaining deaths, no
less than 6 were children under the age of 12 years; 2 of these were
infants suffocated in bed; 2 were the result of falls; 1 was due to
the inhalation of a toy balloon, and one resulted from carbon monoxide
poisoning from a gas appliance. It is well that the lessons of Road
Safety have been learned with such good effect, but the statistics
serve as a sharp reminder of the less obvious dangers to which children
may be subjected.
INFECTIOUS DISEASE.
Mild measles was prevalent during the early part of the
year, but otherwise the incidence of infectious diseases was very low.
The Council paid compensation to a carrier of Salmonella
Typhimurium, whom I required to cease his occupation as a food handler
for a period of 6 weeks under the Public Health (infectious Diseases)
Regulations, 1953. Similarly, a contact of paralytic poliomyelitis
was compensated for loss of part-time earnings as a food handler for
two weeks under Section 99 of the Essex County Council Act, 1952.
RADIOACTIVITY.
Your Council has shared the general concern engendered by
the ever-increasing importance of radioactivity in our lives. The
desire for accurate and up-to-date information concerning the local
hazards from fall-out and from the uses of radioactive substances in
medicine, industry and research, has been strongly and repeatedly voiced.
On my recommendation, a utility Geiger Counter has been
purchased. It is intended for use in the event of any unknown radioactive
source being reported or suspected in the District. The most
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