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44
Poliomyelitis
The year 1956 was below average for the country as a whole,
but proved to be the worst as regards number of cases that Mitcham
has had, as there were 13 cases against 11 in 1947.
Fortunately eight of the cases were non-paralytic and there was
no fatal case so that the year did not prove very severe after all.
Of the five paralytic cases only one proved to be severe, in a
man of 40, who is now able to do his work, but under handicap.
The cases were mosdy of children, only two women and one
man being over 20.
School Notifications
The school intimation notices of infectious disease are always
compared with the notifications received from the medical
practitioners. If any case on the school return is found to be
unnotified, investigations are made in order to find out if the patient
is receiving medical attention.
The school notices also give information of the prevalence of
non-notifiable infectious disease, such as chicken pox, mumps, etc.
The numbers were as follows:—
Chicken pox 196
Mumps 35
Ringworm —
Rubella 44
Impetigo 3
Jaundice —
Influenza 3
Tonsillitis —
Conjunctivitis —
Cancer
The number of deaths from cancer registered during the year
was 135, of which 71 were males and 64 females.
The trend for England and Wales is continuing upwards, with
the case rate for Mitcham about equal to that for the country as a
whole.
The site distribution for 1956 was as follows:—