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BOROUGH OF BRENTFORD AND CHISWICK
Public Health Department,
Town Hall, Chiswick, W 4.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors
of the Borough of Brentford and Chiswick,
Mr, Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to present the 28th Annual Report on the health and
sanitary circumstances of the population of the Borough of Brentford and
Chiswick
The health of the people continued to be good.
There was a fall in the death rate, a fall in the birth rate, and the
infant mortality rate was the lowest ever recorded in the Borough,
There were no maternal deaths and no deaths from diphtheria or poliomyelitis
- on the other hand a rise in the number of deaths from coronary disease would
seem to indicate that the stress of modern conditions and increasing lack of
care in nutrition evidenced by the growing use of prepacked ready prepared,
refrigerated and dehydrated foods is taking its toll of the adult community.
There were fewer deaths, as a result of motor vehicle accidents of Brentford and
Chiswick citizens,, and there were fewer deaths caused by motor vehicle accidents
within the Borough
Although there was a rise in the total number of infectious disease notifications
this was entirely due to the increase in measles of a comparatively
mild type and a rise in the number of whooping cough cases The scarlet fever
figure was nearly halved There was no outbreak of dysentery or food poisoning,
a few scattered cases occurring Although eleven cases of poliomyelitis were
notified, five only of these suffered some paralysis of whom two recovered
completely and three were continuing to make good progress at the end of the
year.
The fact that the figures for immunisation against diphtheria and vaccination
against small pox are still falling gives rise for concern, especially
when it can be estimated that the protection of children under 15 would appear
now to have fallen below the safety margin which has always been estimated at
75% of the total child population immunised If parents could realise that
there were still four deaths from diphtheria in the Greater London area during
1955 it might bring home to them the risks they are running with the lives of
their children.
Although the figures for notifications of tuberculosis did not show the
same considerable drop as in 1954, there was no increase in the number of
cases. There were, however, three more deaths For the first time it is
possible to state at the end of a year that no person known to be in need of
admission to hospital or sanatorium for the treatment of tuberculosis was
required to go on a waiting list because of the lack of bed space
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