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Number of children immunised against Whooping Cough during
the year 1956 was:—
Under 6—12 1 year 2 years 3 years 4 years 5 years
6/12 months and over
30 196 30 4 8 8 6
During the year the Ministry of Health announced its scheme for
the protection of children against poliomyelitis by means of vaccination
indicating, at the beginning of the year, that Local Health
Authorities should proceed to register all children whose parents
requested vaccination. Registration forms were sent out from this
office and through the schools to the parents of all known children
in the group selected, i.e. children born between the years 1947 to
1954 inclusive.
Approximately 32.8 per cent of the total forms issued produced
acceptances and the Ministry planned that as many children as
possible in selected age groups should be vaccinated during the
months of May and June, before the normal poliomyelitis season
commenced, vaccination to be continued at the end of the year.
The age groups selected by the Ministry for the first vaccinations
were children born in the months of August and November, 1947 to
1954 and March and October, 1951 to 1954, with the Month of May
as the reserve month.
PREVENTION OF ILLNESS, CARE AND AFTER-CARE
The work under this Section of the Act is mainly concerned with
Tuberculosis and I am indebted to Dr. H. Duff-Palmer, Consultant
Physician to the Wanstead and Woodford Chest Clinic at Harts
Hospital for the following report:
Thirty-four new cases of Tuberculosis were discovered, a decrease
of nine from the previous year. One hundred and eighty new
contacts were investigated and of these, one adult and one child
were found to have active tuberculous disease. These figures show
the value of contact investigations. It is tedious and unspectacular
work, but well worth while. The importance of Mass Radiography,
followed by contact investigations, is shown by the following
case: One adult was referred by the Mass Radiography Unit and
clinical, radiological and bacteriological examinations proved him
to be a positive sputum case of active tuberculosis of the lungs. The
family was followed up and the son was diagnosed as having
primary lung tuberculosis—he was treated at the Children's
Sanatorium at High Wood Hospital.
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