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
Carshalton 1951
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Carshalton]
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Measles.
The periodic epidemic wave of infection which started in November,
1950, continued to the end of April, 1951. Out of a total of 1,007 cases
notified during the year, 917 occurred in the first 4 months. Forty seven
of the total were patients in local hospitals, the remaining 960 being
residents.
There was one death in a baby of 18 months.
TABLE 12.
MEASLES—WARD INCIDENCE AND MONTHLY DISTRIBUTION, 1951. (Excluding hospital patients non-resident in Carshalton).
| 1951 | Ward | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Helier North | St. Helier South | St. Helier West | North-East | North-West | Central | South-East | South-West | Total | |
| January | 14 | 9 | 18 | 24 | 18 | 19 | 8 | 31 | 141 |
| February | 28 | 9 | 21 | 27 | 23 | 12 | 8 | 31 | 159 |
| March | 122 | 34 | 60 | 51 | 62 | 45 | 16 | 44 | 434 |
| April | 35 | 17 | 22 | 27 | 11 | 18 | 14 | 9 | 153 |
| May | 4 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 36 |
| June | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | 13 |
| July | 6 | — | — | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | 2 | 11 |
| August | 4 | — | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | — | — | 7 |
| September | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3 |
| October | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| November | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| December | - | — | — | 1 | — | 1 | — | — | 2 |
| Totals | 223 | 76 | 129 | 144 | 121 | 98 | 51 | 118 | 960 |
| Monthly Mean | 18.58 | 6.33 | 10.75 | 12.00 | 10.08 | 8.16 | 4.5 | 9.83 | 80.00 |
| Case rate per 1,000 population | 26.20 | 10.95 | 15.63 | 15.56 | 16.85 | 16.06 | 6.53 | 17.87 | 15.55 |
Whooping Cough.
The incidence of pertussis was again high, 471 cases, including
7 hospital patients, being notified. As in the case of measles, most of
the prevalence was concentrated in the first quarter of the year, it being
a continuation of the epidemic incidence which began late in 1950.
There was no death.
Now that diphtheria has been largely overcome, whooping cough
plays the leading role among the common infectious diseases as the
cause of child mortality and morbidity. Reference was made in the
last annual report to the very encouraging results of controlled experiments,
conducted under the auspices of the Medical Research Council,
into the use of vaccines for prophylaxis against whooping cough. As
the Chief Medical Officer of the Ministry of Health has observed—
" Quite apart from mortality, this disease in its acute stages produces
an amount of distress to the patient and parents which, added to the
loss of sleep from the nocturnal frequency of paroxysms, constitutes a
harrowing experience for patients and family alike. Mitigation of such
suffering may be considered a worthy aim of vaccine prophylaxis."
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