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 1969
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Merton]
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CONTROL OF COMMUNICABLE DISEASES
Notifications received during 1969 (Corrected Notifications)
| Disease | Age Groups of Cases Notified | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1 | 1- 2 | 3-4 | 5-9 | 10-14 | 15- 24 | 25-44 | 45-64 | 65 & over | ||
| Measles | 26 | 258 | 340 | 286 | 36 | 12 | 6 | - | - | 964 |
| Dysentery | - | 14 | 18 | 61 | 20 | 4 | 16 | 6 | - | 139 |
| Scarlet Fever | - | 3 | 15 | 20 | 7 | 1 | 2 | - | - | 48 |
| Acute Meningitis | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | 2 | 1 | - | 4 |
| Acute Encephalitis | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | - | 2 |
| Leptospirosis | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | 1 |
| Paratyphoid Fever | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | 2 | - | 3 |
| Food Poisoning | 1 | - | - | 1 | - | - | 1 | 4 | 16 | 23 |
| Infective Jaundice | - | 1 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 36 |
| Tuberculosis (Resp.): | ||||||||||
| Males | - | - | - | - | 1 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 19 |
| Females | - | - | 1 | - | - | 2 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 19 |
| Tuberculosis (Non-Resp.): | ||||||||||
| Males | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | - | - | 1 | 3 |
| Females | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | 1 | - | 3 |
| Whooping Cough | - | 2 | 5 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | 8 |
| Ophthalmia Neonatorum | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Malaria | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | 1 |
| Totals | 28 | 278 | 381 | 374 | 72 | 39 | 51 | 25 | 26 | 1274 |
General
1969 saw a great increase in the number of cases of enteritic
type illness both in this Borough and in England and Wales as a
whole. This increase applied, of course, not only to confirmed cases
but also to suspected cases and contacts.
Typhoid Fever
Eight contacts, involving 25 persons, of typhoid fever were investigated
during the year. Four were contacts of cases in this country
and four were contacts while abroad. All proved negative.
Paratyphoid Fever
There were three confirmed cases of paratyphoid fever in the
Borough during the year, two in adults returning from a Mediterranean
cruise and one in a four-year-old boy taken ill while on holiday
in Spain. The boy and one adult are clear, but the other adult was
still in the carrier state at the end of the year. In addition, there were
ten contacts of cases contracted while on holiday abroad and three
suspected contacts, involving 51 people in all. One of the last concerned
a party of 14 from a local school who were thought to have
come in contact with a case while staying at a Youth Hostel. Specimens
were quickly taken and all results proved negative but there
was a certain amount of disquiet until the results were known.
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