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 1966
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Merton]
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CONTROL OF COMMUNICABLE DISEASES Notifications received during 1966 (Corrected Notifications)
| Disease | Age Groups of Cases Notified | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1 | 1- 2 | 3-4 | 5-9 | 10-14 | 15-24 | 25-44 | 45-64 | 65 & over | Total | |
| Measles | 33 | 208 | 262 | 323 | 15 | 5 | 5 | - | - | 851 |
| Scarlet Fever | — | 4 | 9 | 23 | 6 | 3 | — | — | — | 45 |
| Pneumonia | — | — | — | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 18 |
| Puerperal Pyrexia | — | — | — | — | — | 4 | 3 | — | — | 7 |
| Whooping Cough | 8 | 20 | 19 | 24 | 2 | — | 1 | — | — | 74 |
| Dysentery | 1 | — | 2 | 19 | 11 | 2 | 4 | — | — | 39 |
| Tuberculosis (Resp.): | ||||||||||
| Males | — | — | 2 | — | — | 6 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 28 |
| Females | — | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | 3 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 20 |
| Tuberculosis (Non-Resp.): | ||||||||||
| Males | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | 1 | — | 2 |
| Females | — | — | — | 2 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 3 |
| Erysipelas | 1 | 7 | 3 | 11 | ||||||
| Food Poisoning | — | 1 | — | 2 | — | 1 | — | — | — | 4 |
| Totals | 42 | 234 | 295 | 397 | 36 | 27 | 35 | 22 | 14 | 1102 |
An outbreak of sonne dysentery occurred at the Junior Training
Centre in June in which 34 children and six members of the staff
were found to be infected, and further cases were found among the
families of the children concerned. The London Borough of Sutton
assisted in the investigation of this outbreak and more than 400 specimens
were taken. As a result of this outbreak, it was found necessary
to close the Centre for a month.
An outbreak of diarrhoea occurred at ' Half Way House', 10
Church Path, providing temporary accommodation for families dealt
with by the Welfare Services Department. An investigation was carried
out which revealed that the organism was of non-specific type and
there was no further infection.
Two cases of infective hepatitis occurred in a Mitcham school
during the year and the opportunity was taken to assist the Epidemiological
Research Laboratory in their investigation into the prophylactic
effect of gamma globulin in infective hepatitis. Eleven children
were given injections with the parents' consent, and 25 children acted
as ' controls'. No further cases occurred.
FOOD POISONING
Four cases of food poisoning were confirmed during the year.
These comprised two cases of salmonella typhimurium, one case of
salmonella derby, and one case of salmonella oranienberg.
The one case of salmonella derby occurred in a schoolchild and
proved most persistent. Specimens were taken over a period of nine
months before the infection was cleared.
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