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 1971
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Merton]
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The following table shows the corrected notifications of infectious disease received in 1971 and in the preceding six years:—
| Disease | 1971 | 1970 | 1969 | 1968 | 1967 | 1966 | 1965 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Measles | 427 | 738 | 964 | 322 | 1777 | 851 | 2428 |
| Dysentery | 92 | 21 | 139 | 5 | 20 | 39 | 34 |
| Scarlet Fever | 50 | 42 | 48 | 55 | 60 | 45 | 62 |
| Whooping Cough | 50 | 53 | 8 | 49 | 117 | 74 | 42 |
| Typhoid Fever | — | 3 | — | — | — | — | 1 |
| Food Poisoning | 16 | 65 | 23 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 9 |
| Malaria | 2 | 1 | 1 | — | 1 | — | — |
| Infective Jaundice | 29 | 20 | 36 | 11 | ... | ... | ... |
| Acute Meningitis | 6 | 2 | 4 | 1 | — | — | l |
| Opthalmia Neonatorum | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | 1 |
| Tuberculosis: | |||||||
| Respiratory | 20 | 29 | 38 | 36 | 41 | 48 | 45 |
| Non-Respiratory | 7 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 9 |
| Acute Encephalitis | — | — | 2 | — | 1 | — | — |
| Leptospirosis | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | — |
| Paratyphoid | — | — | 3 | — | — | — | — |
| Poliomyelitis (Paralytic) | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | 1 |
| Totals | 701 | 985 | 1274 | 494 | 2023 | 1066 | 2633 |
Note: Infective jaundice not notifiable until 1968
Cholera
Following outbreaks of cholera in Spain, Portugal and Northern
Africa, and the discovery of a case in Wales, travellers entering Britain
were required to have a valid certificate of inoculation against cholera.
Ninety-eight persons arriving without such a certificate were kept
under surveillance for the necessary period and tested when it was
thought necessary. All results were negative. This involved the Health
Department staff in much additional week-end work.
Diphtheria
Once again there were no notifications. Education in the necessity
for immunisation continues. In October it was found that a student
teacher in the Borough had been in contact with a case of diphtheria
in another Borough. She was excluded from work while tests were
carried out. All the results were negative.
Dysentery
The following major outbreak of sonne dysentery occurred in
1971.
In March, immediately following an educational Mediterranean
cruise by 600 children from 20 Merton schools, a number of
children were found to be absent from school. Enquiries showed that
several had diarrhoea and immediate laboratory tests showed them
to be infected with sonne dysentery. Subsequent investigation at all
20