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admitted to the Royal Hospital where the diagnosis was made. She
had recently returned from a holiday in Italy where she was, presumably,
infected.
Another case was that of a child who had travelled by air from
Bombay and had taken up residence with her family in a local hotel.
There was no doubt that the infection had been contracted abroad,
but there was some danger of secondary cases occurring amongst
several very close contacts.
The third case was a young man who returned from holiday in
Zermatt. He was taken ill the following day and was treated at home
for twelve days before the probable diagnosis was made and he was
admitted to hospital.
None of these patients gave rise to secondary cases and all made
good recoveries.
IMMUNIZATION.
The Schemes for immunizing children against diphtheria, whooping
cough, tetanus, and poliomyelitis continued as in previous years, and
the response from parents was very good indeed. Reference to
Section F will show how these schemes are progressing.
Smallpox.
The Minister of Health advised that the safest time for primary
vaccination was in the second year of life rather than in the early
months. The adoption of this policy reduced the number of vaccinations
carried out during the year, but it is hoped that the response
will be satisfactory when children are called to the clinics at the
appropriate age.
Poliomyelitis.
Only the oral vaccine is now in use. It is well received by the
infants and children and no serious re-actions to it have been observed.
The usual protective course consists of three doses at monthly
intervals; children entering school are given a fourth dose as an extra
precaution.
I am pleased to report that no case of poliomyelitis occurred in the
Borough during the year.
Tetanus.
It has become routine now for all infants to be protected by
a "Triple" Antigen which gives protection against Diphtheria,