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 1963
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Carshalton]
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TABLE 11
SCARLET FEVER—MULTIPLE CASES, 1963
| Ward | No. of houses in which occurred | Total Houses | Total Cases | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Case | 2 Cases | 3 Cases | 4 Cases | |||
| St. Helier North | 1 | — | — | — | 1 | 1 |
| St. Helier South | 6 | — | — | — | 6 | 6 |
| St. Helier West | 2 | — | — | — | 2 | 2 |
| North-East | 3 | — | — | — | 3 | 3 |
| North-West | 6 | — | — | — | 6 | 6 |
| Central | 6 | — | — | — | 6 | 6 |
| South-East | 10 | — | — | — | 10 | 10 |
| South-West | 1 | 3 | — | — | 4 | 7 |
| Whole District | 35 | 3 | — | — | 38 | 41 |
Diphtheria
The year 1963 was the fourteenth consecutive year of freedom from
this infection.
Diphtheria Immunisation
This established prophylactic treatment is undoubtedly responsible
for the continued absence of diphtheria. A duty of the County Council, the
scheme is administered locally like smallpox vaccination by the District
Medical Officer of Health.
Small outbreaks of diphtheria have been re-appearing in recent years
in different parts of the country and the only sure means of protection
is the maintenance of a reasonably high level of immunisation among the
children of the district. Not only is it important to give primary treatment
to as many infants as possible, but it is equally so to re-inforce the initial
immunity throughout childhood. The local practice is to start treatment
in the first year of life and to re-inforce this at intervals throughout primary
school life. Success in achieving re-inforcement of the primary treatment
is largely attributable to the fact that children can be offered their injections
in school, thus saving the parents special journeys to clinic or surgery.
In 1963, 644 children received a primary course of treatment as follows:—
| Age at 31.12.63 i.e. born in year | Under 1 year 1963 | 1 year 1962 | 2 years 1961 | 3 years 1960 | 4 years 1959 | 5—9 years 1954/ 58 | 10-14 years 1949/ 53 | Total under 15 yrs. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| At Council Clinics | 131 | 216 | 40 | 3 | 1 | 4 | — | 395 |
| In Carshalton Schools | — | — | — | — | 3 | 66 | 19 | 88 |
| Private Practitioners | 63 | 91 | 9 | — | — | 3 | — | 166 |
| 194 | 307 | 49 | 3 | 4 | 73 | 19 | 649 | |
| 6 | 9 | 4 | — | 1 | 7 | 4 | 31 | |
| 188 | 298 | 45 | 3 | 3 | 66 | 15 | 618 | |
| 11 | 12 | 1 | 1 | — | 1 | — | 26 | |
| Carshalton residents | 199 | 310 | 46 | 4 | 3 | 67 | 15 | 644 |
A further 1,448 Carshalton children received re-inforcing injections
during the year.
44