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Diphtheria
There was again no case of diphtheria. It would not have been surprising
if the outbreaks which occurred in the metropolitan area during
1960 had resulted in odd cases occurring in this district as a result of our
industrial contact with London. The recent outbreaks in various parts
of the country emphasise the necessity for maintaining our sheet anchor
of protection by reinforcing the immunity bestowed on the children of
the district during infancy by way of diphtheria immunisation.
Diphtheria Immunisation
As with smallpox vaccination the arrangements for immunisation
against diphtheria are in the hands of the County Council, but local
direction of the scheme is done by the District Medical Officers. The
practice is to secure primary immunisation before the age of one year
and to reinforce that protection on entry to school and thereafter at three
yearly intervals until the child leaves the Junior School at about the
age of 11.
As was to be expected, the publicity given to the outbreaks scattered
throughout the country, already referred to, which occurred during 1960,
stimulated many more parents to secure this protection for their children
and the numbers treated showed a further gratifying increase over the not
unsatisfactory figures of recent years. As a result approximately 64% of
children under 5 years had been immunised by the 31st December, as
against a percentage of 57 at the same date twelve months earlier. In
view of the fact that most babies are treated towards the end of the first
year of life, the maximum percentage possible under 5 years of age is
approximately 80 and it is against this level that the number treated
should be viewed.
Continued freedom from diphtheria is not only dependent on the
numbers given primary treatment, but equally upon the extent to which
the initial immunity is reinforced at appropriate intervals. Local practice
includes a tour of the primary schools of the district each year where
reinforcing or initial treatment is offered and carried out on the school
premises. This procedure is markedly successful in maintaining a
relatively high level of this artificially conferred immunity among the
children of school age and amounts to approximately 70%.