View report page

INFECTIOUS DISEASE
Notification to the Medical Officer of Health is the essential preliminary
to control of infectious disease The diseases required by statute to be notified
are smallpox, cholera, diphtheria, membranous croup, erysipelas, scarlet fever,
typhus fever., typhoid fever, paratyphoid fever, relapsing fever,> plague, poliomyelitis,
tuberculosis, malaria, dysentery, puerperal pyrexia, ophthalmia neonatorum, acute
primary pneumonia, acute influenzal pneumonia, whooping cough measles, acute encephalitis,
meningococcal infection, anthrax and food poisoning It is known that all
cases are not notified, but there are no grounds for suspecting that the level of
notification varies to any great extent from year to year PersQps travelling overseas
may be required to produce evidence of recent vaccination against smallpox or
inoculation against yellow fever, cholera and typhoid fever Such certificates
require to be endorsed by the Medical Officer of Health and during the year 5,195
were so endorsed
INCIDENCE OF NOTIFIABLE DISEASE The number of cases notified during the year
is shown in Table VI and the trend of infectious diseases during the last 20 years
in Table VII
SMALLPOX No case of smallpox occurred in the Borough during 1962 Persons
arriving in the Borough from parts of the world where smallpox is prevalent, are
kept under observation till any chance of their developing the disease is over.
According to the returns 671 children under the age of one year were vaccinated
in 1962 as compared with 794 in 1961. Modern travel is such that the risk of importing
smallpox is ever present
SCARLET F15VER This disease was less prevalent 22 cases notified as compared
with 29 in the previous year This disease continued to be mild in character
DIPHTHERIA The Borough's freedom from diphtheria was maintained during the
year. The number of children under the age of one year who were immunised during
1962 was 451 as compared with 482 in 1961
ERYSIPELAS Six notifications of this disease were received.
PNEUMONIA Notifications of pneumonia were 14 as compared with 17 in 1961 Of
the total pneumonia deaths, 85 per cent occurred at age 65 and over,
MENINGOCOCCAL INFECTION Two cases were notified during the year.
ACUTE ENCEPHALITIS. Qne notification was received and the patient made a good
recovery Encephalitis is known to occur as a complication of other infectious
diseases, and one such case was notified during 1962
POLIOMYELITIS No case was notified during the year.
Inoculation against poliomyelitis was continued during the year and the use of
oral vaccine was started Three doses of oral vaccine were given to 959 persons, one
8