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
Hillingdon 1972
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Hillingdon]
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Infectious Diseases
Dr. C. Lydon—Deputy Medical Officer of Health
The following table shows the incidence of infectious diseases during 1 972.
| DISEASES | Ages of Cases Notified | Totals | Deaths | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under One Year | 1 to 2 | 3 to 4 | 5 to 9 | 10 to 14 | 15 to 24 | 25 and Over | 1972 | 1971 | 1972 | 1971 | |
| Scarlet Fever | 7 | 13 | 19 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 45 | 91 | |||
| Diphtheria | |||||||||||
| Whooping Cough | 1 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 23 | 135 | |||
| Measles | 11 | 53 | 70 | 56 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 200 | 1208 | ||
| Acute Meningitis | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | ||||||
| Poliomyelitis | |||||||||||
| (Paralytic) | |||||||||||
| (Non-Paralytic) | |||||||||||
| Acute Encephalitis | |||||||||||
| Infective | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | |||||||
| Post Infective | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | ||||||
| Smallpox | |||||||||||
| Tetanus | 1 | ||||||||||
| Typhoid | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| Paratyphoid | 2 | ||||||||||
| Dysentery | 6 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 35 | 38 | |||
| Food Poisoning | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 18 | 35 | 25 | |||
| Malaria | 3 | ||||||||||
| Tuberculosis | |||||||||||
| Respiratory | 1 | 5 | 39 | 45 | 53 | 1 | |||||
| Other | 2 | 2 | 19 | 1 | |||||||
| Infective Jaundice | 8 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 19 | 52 | 53 | ||||
DIPHTHERIA
Although the table indicates that for the 23rd consecutive year no case of diphtheria has occurred
in the area, one adult was found to be harbouring C. Diphtheria. He was an ambulance driver
who was involved in transporting a patient from London (Heathrow) Airport to an Infectious
Disease Hospital. This patient, a British citizen who became ill while travelling abroad, was found
to have diphtheria infection and as a result of follow-up investigations carried out amongst contacts,
the ambulance driver's nasal swabs demonstrated the presence of diphtheria organisms. It is more
than likely that this was an incidental finding and was not directly related to the contact with the
patient. Following one week's course of antibiotic treatment further swabbing demonstrated that
the diphtheria carrier state had been corrected.
In a separate incident a 12 year old child had also to be investigated following contact with a
patient attending the Out-Patients' Department at a hospital in a neighbouring borough who was
later found to be a carrier of C. Diphtheria. Nose and throat swabs demonstrated that this girl was
free from infection.
DYSENTERY
Shigella sonnei was isolated from 13 of the 35 cases of dysentery notified during the year.
In one other case Shigella boydii was isolated and no organism was discovered from stool examination
in the other 21 cases.
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