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 1957
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Carshalton]
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to secure the protection of infants in the early months of life. Treatment is
provided as a free service at the infant welfare clinics and by doctors
giving general practitioner services under the Act.
Records as to the vaccinal state of the children under five years of
age are sufficiently complete as to be of statistical value. These shew that at
the end of 1957 50% of the children in those age groups had been vaccinated
against smallpox at some time in their lives. Although one could wish for a
higher level of immunity than that afforded by this percentage, it can be
regarded as not unsatisfactory in the absence of smallpox in the locality for
so many years. The outbreaks which occur from time to time in different
parts of the country as a result of imported infection, serve to remind us
that we are liable at any time to invasion by a disease which has lost nothing
of its fatality with the passage of time and the advances of medical treatment.
The number of persons recorded as having received successful vac cination during the year was as follows:—
| Age at 31st December, 1957 i.e. born in | Under 1 yr 1957 | 1-4 yrs 1953-6 | 5-14 yrs 1943-52 | 15 yrs & over 1942 and earlier | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 54 | 93 | 25 | 66 | 238 | |
| At Clinics | 154 | 151 | 8 | — | 313 |
| 208 | 244 | 33 | 66 | 551 | |
| 1 | 6 | 26 | 144 | 177 | |
| At Clinics | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1 | 6 | 26 | 144 | 177 | |
| In addition, the following unsuccessful attempts at vaccination were made:— | |||||
| Age at 31st December, 1957 | Under 1 yr 1957 | 1-4 yrs 1953-6 | 5-14 yrs 1943-52 | 15 yrs & over 1942 & earlier | Total |
| Primary | 7 | 4 | 1 | 12 | |
| Revaccination | — | — | 1 | 9 | 10 |
| 7 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 22 | |
The estimated number of children under five years of age vaccinated
at the end of 1957, was 1,656.
Enteric Fever
The high level of supervision and control of public water supplies
which is now practised is responsible for the virtual abolition of typhoid
fever which in the past has been mainly a water-borne infection. Only four
cases of true typhoid have occurred in the district since the water epidemics
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