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24
Statistics, Infectious Diseases, Health Control Unit London {Heathrow) Airport
TYPHOID
Ten passengers passed through the airport whilst incubating typhoid. These were subsequently
taken ill, and typhoid was diagnosed in each case. In each case, the Medical Officer of Health concerned
passed the relevant information to the airport.
PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS
During the year one alien and 38 Commonwealth passengers were refused entry owing to pulmonary
tuberculosis diagnosed at the airport. Another alien arrived from Turkey known already to be suffering
from tuberculosis, and was refused entry.
Thirty-five of the passengers were repatriated to their countries of origin.
Six passengers with pulmonary tuberculosis were landed contrary to advice given to the Immigration
authorities.
In 174 cases, destination Medical Officers of Health were advised to refer the immigrant to the
local chest clinic for follow-up or observation. This course of action followed the weekly visit to the
airport by the consulting radiologist, and resulted in 16 further cases of pulmonary tuberculosis being
brought to light.
The breakdown shows that the 35 cases that were repatriated came from: India 28; Pakistan 4;
Mauritius 1; Thailand 1; Turkey 1.
The six patients who were landed contrary to medical advice came from: India 5; Pakistan 1.
The 16 cases about whom information was passed to the Health Control Unit by destination
Medical Officers of Health came from: India 13; Pakistan 2; Aden 1.
X-RAY UNIT
During the year a total of 6,215 immigrant passengers were X-rayed on arrival. Of these 6,081
were from Commonwealth countries and 134 were aliens.
The figure 6,215 for 1967 compares with 6,949 in 1966. The fall is probably due to the fact that
Commonwealth immigrants, more and more, are tending to be X-rayed in the country of origin. This
applies particularly to those coming from Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Sabah, Mauritius and the
West Indies.
AIRCRAFT EMERGENCIES
There were two aircraft emergencies during the year, fortunately without any casualties.
An exercise to test the various emergency services was held in May.