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 1961
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Carshalton]
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Whooping Cough
In the days before vaccination against whooping cough was practised,
the yearly total of cases frequently ran into several hundreds but since
1955 the annual incidence has been less than 100. As in other recent years,
in the absence of any defined epidemic, incidence was fairly evenly spread
over the 12 months. The cases moreover were relatively mild and none
was fatal.
Whooping Cough Vaccination
This practice which is the responsibility of the County Council did
not begin to assume significant proportions until 1954. Since that year
the number of children under 5 years vaccinated against this infection
has risen steadily to the present level of approximately 70%. The vaccine
is usually given in combination with diphtheria and tetanus immunising
material as a triple antigen.
The number of cases and the percentage of preschool children vaccinated at the beginning of each year since 1950 was as follows:—
| Year | Percentage of children vaccinated | Cases | Year | Percentage of children vaccinated | Cases |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | — | 384 | 1956 | 47 | 73 |
| 1951 | — | 471 | 1957 | 61 | 75 |
| 1952 | - | 98 | 1958 | 62 | 41 |
| 1953 | 6 | 345 | 1959 | 64 | 32 |
| 1954 | 22 | 154 | 1960 | 66 | 81 |
| 1955 | 36 | 101 | 1961 | 69 | 69 |
TABLE 13.
WHOOPING COUGH—WARD INCIDENCE AND
MONTHLY DISTRIBUTION, 1961. (Excluding hospital patients non-resident in Carshalton)
| 1961 | Ward | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Helier North | St. Helier South | St. Helier West | North-East | North-West | Central | South-East | Southwest | ||
| January | - | 1 | — | 5 | 1 | — | 2 | - | 9 |
| February | — | 1 | — | 2 | 3 | — | 1 | — | 7 |
| March | — | — | 1 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 4 | 8 |
| April | 1 | — | 3 | 1 | — | 2 | 4 | 7 | 18 |
| May | 1 | — | — | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 14 |
| June | 4 | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | - | 5 |
| July | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| August | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| September | - | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | - | 1 |
| October | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | — | — | - | - | 3 |
| November | - | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 3 |
| December | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| TOTALS | 8 | 2 | 7 | 13 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 19 | 69 |
| Monthly Mean | 0.66 | 0.16 | 0.66 | 1.08 | 0.66 | 0.33 | 0.66 | 1.58 | 5.75 |
| Case rate per 1,000 population | 1.16 | 0.32 | 1.03 | 1.46 | 1.12 | 0.68 | 0.96 | 2.90 | 1.22 |