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Cerebro Spinal Fever. NO case was notified.
Poliomyelitis. Six cases were notified, the same number as
in 1951. All were paralytic. Two recovered. One case, a girl
aged four years, has severe residual paralysis of arms and legs.
Two boys aged eight and four years have weakness of the right
hand. One female adult has weakness of the right leg. The case
rate was 0.08 per thousand of population compared with 0.09 per
thousand of population for England and Wales.
Poliomyelitis has become established as a serious annual
epidemic disease. The Incidence rises during the early summer
and maintains a high level during late summer and autumn.
Sporadic cases occur during the winter and spring. Typically,
Poliomyelitis has three phases. The first is a mild febrile
Illness often with headache and sore throat. The second is a
period of remission of symptoms which may last for a few hours
or a few days. The third is the acute meningeal phase with high
temperature, headache, pain In the neck and muscular aches. The
period of remission of symptoms Is the most deceptive feature of
the disease. It Is necessary for people to take heed of minor
febrile illness during the seasonal prevalence of Poliomyelitis
and to rest and to restrict social contacts until fully recovered.
It is probable that infection is spread by mild ambulant cases
in the first phase of illness.
In those cases who suffer paralysis there is always hope of
a gradual and considerable recovery. Modern methods of treatment
are enabling many who were severely paralysed to lead useful
lives, and their happiness has been greatly enhanced by the
excellent social work of the Infantile Paralysis Fellowship.
Pneumonia. Of thirty deaths from Pneumonia four were
notified previous to death. The total number of notified cases
was forty one compared with sixty eight in 1951. The number of
deaths from respiratory diseases showed a sharp rise following
the dense fog of the first week-end of December 1952.
Infestations. Two cases of Scabies and sixteen cases of
Infestation by lice were treated. The number of attendances at
the clinic for treatment was seventy two. This compares with
six cases of Scabies and twenty five cases with lice, and ninety
attendances for treatment in 1951.
Non-Notifiable Diseases. School teachers reported four
hundred cases of Chicken Pox, three hundred and sixty four cases
of Mumps and two hundred and three cases of German Measles.
School notifications are a useful Indication of the prevalence
of non-notifiable diseases and form a basis for consultation
with the school medical officer.
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