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3
Borough of Mitcham
HEALTH REPORT FOR 1951
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have much pleasure in submitting my annual report for
the year 1951.
The general health in the Borough has been good.
Measles tends to occur in cycles, and an outbreak in the early
part of the year was easily the largest since it was made notifiable,
a jump occurring from 354 cases in 1950 to 1,386 in 1951. There
was also a slight increase in Whooping Cough, but both diseases
were remarkably mild in that there were no deaths.
Only one case of Poliomyelitis occurred, and the diagnosis
was not absolutely certain. There was some slight degree of
paralysis, which cleared up.
There was an isolated case of Paratyphoid B which was,
however, of a mild nature, the source of infection being unable
to be discovered.
There was, again, not a single case of Diphtheria in Mitcham.
The death rate from Tuberculosis was down from last year's
0.5 per 1,000 to 0.33, which is just above that for England and
Wales.
The birth rate of 13.48, after correction by the comparability
factor to correspond with the average age and sex grouping of
the whole population, becomes 12.54 and was for the second year
in succession the lowest recorded in Mitcham, which compares
with 15.5 for England and Wales.