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23
Statistics, Infectious Diseases, Health Control Unit London (Heathrow) Airport
OTHER CONDITIONS
There were three confirmed cases of typhoid reported during the year, in January, April and
October, and in each case the passenger arrived at the airport during the stage of incubation and only
sought medical advice some days afterwards.
Other conditions were; one case of acute poliomyelitis (from Bahrain), three cases of chickenpox,
and cases of measles, yaws, scabies and amoebic dysentery.
FATALITIES
During the year 10 deaths were recorded at London Airport. Of these, eight were from natural
causes, one resulted from a traffic accident and one was a suicide.
Two of the deaths occurred in flight; one was an American woman coming to the United Kingdom,
whilst the other was a young baby suffering from advanced dehydration, flying from Venice, a journey
which, considering the baby's condition, should never have been allowed.
Of the remainder, five were sudden deaths occurring in men of middle or late-middle age and
probably attributable to coronary disease. In two of these, one a visitor to the airport, and the other a
B.E.A. driver, there was a history of thrombosis.
The one remaining death involved a Maltese woman—a pre-booked stretcher case—for whom no
hospital arrangements had been made, and who died whilst a hospital bed was being sought.
AIRCRAFT EMERGENCIES
The year passed, happily, without any incident. The number of aircraft movements in and out of
the airport was 223,808; an increase of 17,808 over 1965.