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Section F—Prevalence of and Control over
Infectious and other Diseases
The district has within its boundaries four Hospitals, two of which,
namely Queen Mary's Hospital for Children and the St. Helier Hospital,
are particularly large institutions which are part of the hospital services of
the South-West Metropolitan Hospital Region. Many of the cases notified
from these hospitals are admitted there from other districts already suffering
from a notifiable disease, but not diagnosed until after admission. In
order, therefore, to give a clearer picture of the prevalence of infectious
disease in the resident population of the district, separate figures are given
in this Section which exclude cases of hospital patients who are not residents
of the district. The figures given are after correction for original errors in
diagnosis.
Notification
The following diseases are notifiable in the district:—
Smallpox
Cholera
Diphtheria
Membranous Group
Erysipelas
Scarlatina or
Scarlet Fever
Measles
Whooping Cough
Anthrax
Tuberculosis
Dysentery
Acute Primary
Pneumonia
Acute Influenzal
Pneumonia
Acute Poliomyelitis
Acute
Polioencephalitis
Typhus Fever
Typhoid Fever
Enteric Fever
Relapsing or Continued
Fever
Meningococcal Infection
Ophthalmia Neonatorum
Puerperal Pyrexia
Malaria
Food Poisoning and suspected
food poisoning
Leprosy
Smallpox
This infection was not introduced into the area during 1963. One
shipping contact was supervised on arrival from abroad.
Vaccination against Smallpox
The scheme for vaccination, which is the responsibility of the County
Council as the Local Health Authority, is directed locally by the District
Medical Officers of Health. Of the children who are treated approximately
half are done by the General Practitioners and half at the Welfare Clinics
of the Council. Some doubts have been raised in medical circles as to
whether routine vaccination in the absence of infection is still advisable on
the basis that an outbreak can be controlled by supervision and vaccination
of the contacts. Whilst routine vaccination admittedly does not prevent
the importation of smallpox with possible spread, it is difficult to believe
that the fact that a certain proportion of the population has some degree
of immunity does not help in the control of an outbreak. Moreover an
adult contact who has been previously vaccinated in infancy does not react
so violently to re-vaccination as he does when given primary vaccination.
The number of persons vaccinated in 1963 was less than in the previous
year, the explanation for which is that the publicity given to a number of
cases which occurred in the country in 1962 resulted in a sudden increased
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