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114
The Council has an arrangement with the Poplar Borough
Council for the immunisation of children from that Borough at a
charge of 10s. for a complete course of treatment and 2s. 6d. for a
case found to be naturally immune and therefore not requiring
immunising injections.
A few cases were dealt with under this arrangement in 1934.
The following is a report by the Medical Officer in charge of
the Clinic:—
REPORT BY DR. F. PORTER-SMITH.
The attendance at the Diphtheria Immunisation Clinic during 1934 has
been very satisfactory, as the above table shows. The Clinic has been working
for over six years, and 2,763 children and 41 adults have been protected. This
number of children is comparatively only a small proportion of the child
population of the Borough, but the attendances are increasing as parents realise
the serious danger to life from an attack of diphtheria and the simple and
harmless method of prevention available. Not a single case has suffered any
ill effects, and the very few cases that have been notified as diphtheria following
treatment have proved to be either a false alarm or so slight an attack as to
rquire only a few weeks' treatment. This is all the more creditable, as there
has been an epidemic of a very severe type (Gravis) throughout the country and
many unprotected children have died within 2—3 days of discovery of the
disease.
All doctors who have had any real clinical experience of the disease are
satisfied that the treatment by prevention is sound, safe and essential. There
have been 17,986 injections given at the Clinic, and I can certify that not
one has given the slightest sign of trouble.
Note by Medical Officer of Health.
The immunised children mentioned by Dr. Porter-Smith who were found
to have contracted diphtheria during the six years 1928-1934 numbered five.
In these five cases the attack was so mild that the diagnoses were established
with difficulty.
In this connection the following rates regarding the incidence of diphtheria
in the Borough in the years 1928-1934 are of interest:—
Case incidence among immunised children aged
1—14 years (5 cases among 2,763 children) 1.8 per 1,000.
Case incidence among non-immunised children aged
1—14 years (2,859 cases among 41,2153 children) 9.2 ,, ,,
Case incidence among all children aged 1—14 years
(21,864 oases among 44,0'16 children) 9.2 ,, ,,
Case incidence among the total population (3,626
cases among 214,660 persons) 2.4 ,, ,,
Enteric Fever.—During the year under consideration 1 case of
enteric fever and 2 cases of paratyphoid B fever were notified. This
shows a decrease of 2 on the number of cases that occurred during
1933. The attack-rate was 0.014 per 1,000 inhabitants, compared
with 0.00 for England and Wales.