London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Richmond upon Thames 1969
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Richmond]
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INFECTIOUS DISEASES
The number of notifications received during the year, compared with 1968 may be summarised as follows :
| Disease. | 1969 | 1968 |
|---|---|---|
| Dysentery | 34 | 37 |
| Encephalitis (Acute) | 1 | 1 |
| Food Poisoning | 22 | 30 |
| Infective Jaundice | 34 | 49 |
| Malaria | 2 | 1 |
| Measles | 262 | 262 |
| Meningitis (Acute) | 7 | 1 |
| Ophthalmia Neonatorum | — | 1 |
| Scarlet Fever | 59 | 54 |
| Whooping Cough | 12 | 60 |
The table on page 17 gives the number of cases notified under age groups.
Scarlet Fever.
The incidence of this disease remains fairly high, ranking second only in number
of notified cases to measles. The 5—9 year age group is mostly affected and both sexes
are equally susceptible.
Whooping Cough.
There was a considerable drop in the number of cases notified, 12 in 1969 as
compared with 60 in 1968. Of the 12 cases, only two are recorded as having been
immunised, but neither of these received a booster dose.
Measles.
Exactly the same number of cases, 262, were notified as the previous year, and by
a coincidence this figure was equally divided between male and female.
In theory 1969 should have been an epidemic year and the remarkable reduction
in the number of cases since the last epidemic year is undoubtedly attributable to the
efficacy of the vaccine.
Only four of the notified cases were recorded as having been immunised, and of
these, two had been immunised shortly before the onset of the illness.
The histogram on page 14 shows the comparison of notified cases since 1959.
| Previous years figures are as follows : | |||
| 1959 | 1957 | 1965 | 1992 |
| 1960 | 57 | 1966 | 888 |
| 1961 | 2422 | 1967 | 1400 |
| 1962 | 112 | 1968 | 262 |
| 1963 | 1885 | 1969 | 262 |
| 1964 | 234 | ||