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
Merton and Morden 1954
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Merton & Morden]
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SECTION F — INFECTIOUS ILLNESS
Notification. There were no new regulations brought into
force during the year.
The following diseases are notifiable in the district:—
| Acute Encephalitis (Infective) | Leprosy |
| Malaria | |
| Acute Encephalitis (Post-Infectious) | Measles |
| Meningococcal Infection | |
| Acute Poliomyelitis (Paralytic) | Ophthalmia Neonatorum |
| Plague | |
| Acute Poliomyelitis (Non-Paralvtic) | Pneumonia, Primary |
| Pneumonia, Influenzal | |
| Cholera | Puerperal Pyrexia |
| Continued Fever | Relapsing Fever |
| Diphtheria (including membranous Croup) | Scarlet Fever |
| Smallpox | |
| Dysentery | Trench Fever |
| Enteric Fever (including paratyphoid fevers) | Typhus Fever |
| Tuberculosis (all forms) | |
| Erysipelas | Whooping Cough |
| Food Poisoning |
Smallpox. There were no cases notified during the year,
neither were we required to undertake surveillance of any
contacts.
Scarlet Fever. The number of notifications this year
dropped to 76, giving a case rate of 1.04 per thousand population,
the lowest ever recorded in the district. Thirty-seven
cases were removed to isolation hospital, a slightly higher
percentage than 1953. Sixty-two cases occurred in children
attending school, of which 10 were from schools outside our
area. Of the others, 13 were children under school age and one
was an adult. There were no serious outbreaks of scarlet
fever in the schools, although one school in the district did
account for 14 of our cases during the year, 7 of which occurred
over a period of six weeks during the summer, and which might
be classed as a minor outbreak.
Poliomyelitis. Only one case of poliomyelitis was notified
during the year. A child aged 3 years was admitted to isolation
hospital as a ease of gastro-enteritis, with a history of vomiting
and persistent diarrhoea. Soon after admission it was noticed
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