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9
5, Church Passage,
Guildhall, E.C. 2.
January, 1937.
TO THE WORSHIPFUL THE PORT OF LONDON HEALTH COMMITTEE.
Gentlemen,
I have the honour to submit my Annual Report as Medical Officer of Health
of the Port of London. Circular 1598 issued by the Ministry of Health states that
" any permanent arrangements which have been fully described in previous Annual
Reports and have not been altered may be omitted from the Report for 1936." These
arrangements were dealt with in my Report for the year 1933 and I have, therefore,
in this Report described only such changes as have taken place since then.
Continuing the policy of encouraging other Members of your Staff to make direct
contributions to this Report, I have this year included an article entitled "Surveillance
of Contacts," by Mr. J. A. Gillis, First Class Assistant Clerk, and some observations
by Mr. J. S. Beattie, Inspector in the Middle River District on "Conditions Prevailing
in Coasting Vessels."
The tonnage of vessels entering the Port of London during 1936 showed an
increase of 1,194,449 tons as compared with the previous year, the total being
30,868,381 tons. 14,454 vessels arrived from Foreign Ports, and of these 2,389 were
boarded and inspected by your Medical Officers.
Infectious Disease was reported as having occurred during the voyage on 204
vessels, the total number of cases being 317, of which 174, including 94 of Pulmonary
Tuberculosis, were landed in the Port.
In the Training Ships there occurred two cases of Scarlet Fever, 10 of Diphtheria,
and one each of Measles and Mumps.
One case of Diphtheria occurred on a Houseboat moored in the district.
Owing to an epidemic of Diphtheria in one of the Training Ships I was requested
to arrange for the immunisation of the boys. This was carried out by Dr. J. A.
Jones, one of your Assistant Medical Officers, whose report appears on pages 53 to 55.
Sixty-six cases, particulars of which are given in Appendix II., were admitted to
your Hospital at Denton.
No case of Plague occurred during the year on any vessel bound for London.
Of the 2,508 rats examined bacteriologically, 983 were from ships and 1,525 were
from shore premises. None showed any evidence of Plague infection.
Six vessels arrived in Avhich a total of nine cases of Small-pox had occurred, but
no case was actually landed in the Port.
The Parrots (Prohibition of Import) Regulations, 1930, continued in operation,
and the work done thereunder is reported on page 56.
Your Sanitary Inspectors made 15,531 inspections of vessels and 6,070 inspections
of shore premises. Three thousand, five hundred and fifty-six defects were reported
in 2,643 vessels, in 2,492 of which the defects were remedied. Eleven hundred and
eighty-four nuisances were reported in 1,170 shore premises, in 1,166 of which the
nuisances were abated.