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19
INFECTIOUS AND CONTAGIOUS DISEASES
THE PUBLIC HEALTH (INFECTIOUS DISEASES) AMENDMENT REGULATIONS, 1960
ANTHRAX These Regulations, which came into operation on December 1st, 1960,
include anthrax with the diseases which were made notifiable by the Public
Health (Infectious Diseases) Regulations, 1953 Any medical practitioner
attending on or called in to visit a patient suffering from anthrax is required
to send notification thereof to the appropriate Medical Officer of Health.
In actual practice the notification of Anthrax is not new, since for some years
it has in London, been a notifiable disease by an Order made by the London
County Council.
In bringing these Regulations to the notice of all medical practitioners
and secretaries of hospitals in the Borough, opportunity was taken of reminding
them that under Section 66 of the Factories Act, 1937, cases of anthrax occurring
in a factory are also notifiable to H M Chief Inspector of Factories.
The London Hospital, Whitechapel, E 1, has been designated by the NorthEast
Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board as the Unit to which cases of
suspected Anthrax should be referred for diagnosis and treatment.

The EIGHT DEATHS associated with notified cases of infectious disease
were—
Encephalitis (post infectious) 1
Pneumonia - Males aged 53, 66 and 86 years
Females aged 63, 70 and 82 (two cases) years 7
DIPHTHERIA- For the seventh successive year no case of Diphtheria was
notified, and since 1951 only one case has occurred in this Borough. In
England and Wales 52 cases were notified, five of which were fatal.
One suspected case in Hackney was admitted to Hospital, where the ultimate diagnosis proved to be Diphtheria Carrier state.