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Dysentery.
No case of dysentery was notified during the year. There
were no deaths.
Acute Poliomyelitis, Acute Polio-encephalitis.
Poliomyelitis is always endemic - an odd case occurs here
and there throughout the country. Occasionally wo have a case
in Twickenham. During 1947, the national incidence of cases
was of the usual low sporadic nature - about ten cases per week,
Towards the end of May, it was noticed that the national
incidence had begun to rise. By the end of July, the national
incidence was over 300 cases per week, and by the end of
August had risen to the proportions of a bad opidemic with
over 650 cases a week. The opidemic then began to decline;
by the beginning of October the incidence rate had dropped again
to about 300 per week, and from then,onwards to the end of the
year the decline continued until by the end of December, the
national incidence had again dropped, although there were still
about 40 cases per week occurring.
During this period, Twickenham received its share of this
distressing malady. The first case occurred on the 15th May,
1947, in a boy aged 3 years, who was attending one of the day
nurseries. On the 27th June, another case occurred in a baby
boy aged 14 months, who was also attending a day nursery.
In July, five cases occurred - one boy aged 5½ years, three
girls aged 11 months, 4 years and 14 years, and one woman;
in August two cases - a boy aged 15 and a girl aged 7 years; in
September, five cases - two boys aged 12 and 16 years, two girls
aged 2 and 17 years and one woman; and in October, six cases,
three boys aged 11, 15 and 18 years, two girls aged 11 and 18
years and one woman. There were twenty-one cases in all; they
ranged in severity from a mild abortive type of infection with
no residual paralysis, through various grades of mild paralysis
affecting one small group of muscles to severe degrees of
paralysis affecting head, nock, back, abdomen and limb muscles.
Four very mild cases were treated at homo, and the remaining
seventeen were admitted to hospital, Some of these were treated
in the mechanical respirator, I regret that three of the
patients died from the severity of the paralysis. In other
instances, patients made excellent receveries.
Immediately a case was confirmed in a child attending a
nursery or a school, a letter of advice was sent to all parents
with children in the nursery or school. It was pointed out
that Poliomyelitis is an infectious disease caused by a
minute virus. It is believed that most people have become
immunised by being exposed to the virus without developing any
symptoms of the disease, A few who catch the infection suffer
from a slight feverish attack only; fewer still suffer, in
addition, from symptoms resembling meningitis, but do not
develop paralysis; fewest of all become paralysed and develop
varying degrees of disability of movement. Persons who develop
the illness are most infectious to others a few days both before
and after the attack.
Healthy carriers are known to exist who may harbour the
infection, although they themselves are well. They are able to
spread the infection to other people by talking, sneezing,
coughing or from the bowels.
Experience shows that as a rule in schools or nurseries,
relatively few children are attacked, and excessive outbreaks are
not common. The risk of spread to other children is small, though
it cannot be completely excluded. The incubation period (the
time from exposure to infection to the onset of the illness) is
up to three weeks. As there is no means of detecting carriers,
some parents may wish to keep their children away from the school.
The children should be prevented from mixing with other groups
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