View report page

On the whole, therefore, we can say that the health of the District
has continued to be satisfactory.
CONTROL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Again there were no major outbreaks and no deaths from any of the
notifiable infectious diseases, but several incidents of a minor nature may
be of some interest.
1. 2 cases of infective jaundice occurred at High View
Residential School just before the Christmas holidays. While the school
was closed for the ensuing holidays and the children were living at home
with their families, a further 3 cases arose; 1 of these returned to
school before recovery, and was immediately isolated until sent back home
a few hours later. Despite special attention to personal hygiene and food
hygiene at the school a further 2 cases occurred. I therefore decided to
offer an injection of immune gamma-globulin to all the children and staff.
83 children and 32 staff were so inoculated, and I am happy to report that
no further cases occurred.
2. During the national scare and controversy over rabies (March
1970), a local veterinary surgeon reported being bitten while destroying a
dog which was seriously ill with an unidentified disease. The premises
were immediately disinfected and the contact put under surveillance. Full
detailed examination of the dog's head was arranged through the Divisional
Officer of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, but in consultation
with the Central Virus Laboratory, it was decided not to vaccinate anyone
against rabies pending the results of the examination, as the dog had never
been abroad or in remotest contact with that disease. Fortunately, all the
tests, as expected, proved conclusively negative.
3. A local veterinary surgeon reported suspected tuberculosis in
a cat whose owner was also known to be suffering from this disease, and
requested my assistance in obtaining materials for a diagnostic test. After
studying the general literature on the subject of tuberculosis in domestic
animals, and some correspondence with one of the authors, I reported to
the Society of Medical Officers of Health my opinion that whenever
tuberculosis is diagnosed either in man or domestic animal the Medical
Officer of Health should be informed and all members of the domestic
circle, human and animal, should be examined. The Society is seeking
further advice with a view to implementing this proposal.
It is now apparent that measles vaccination reduces the
risk of the disease in the year immediately following the administration
of the vaccine, but not in subsequent years.
It is estimated that a vaccination rate of 40 to 50% of the
children born each year would be necessary to prevent the regular biennial
epidemics of measles experienced in Britain up till now. A continuing
rate of 80 to 90% would however be necessary to lead to the total
disappearance of the disease from this country.
German measles (rubella) vaccination introduced last year, has
continued to make progress under new arrangements between the Essex County
Council and the local general practitioners. The purpose of the scheme is
to give protection against the disease during the first few weeks of pregnancy,
which can result in severely handicapped babies. It must therefore be given
well before a pregnancy is likely to have started and is accordingly offered to
girls in the 11 to 14 age group.
—4— /SECTION