London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Southwark 1931

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Southwark, Borough of]

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76
Diphtheria which occur annually in the Borough. The figure, however,
shows that either
(1) Our system of propaganda and education regarding the benefits
of being protected against Diphtheria is inadequate; or
(2) That parents are failing to realise the dangers of Diphtheria
and are not supporting your scheme of prevention, in spite of warnings.

The number of cases notified and the number of deaths during the last five years were as follows:—

Notified.Deaths.
19275401
19286733
19296623
19307634
19315143

These statistics show that there has been a decline in the number
of notifications of Diphtheria during the past two years, and also in the
number of deaths, but, as previously stated, this decline can hardly be
attributed to the work of the Immunisation Clinic; the figures do. however,
answer definitely in the negative the question raised at the last
Committee Meeting, i.e., "that the deaths from Diphtheria have increased
since the introduction of the immunisation process."
From the various discussions at the Committee Meeting, I gathered
that Members wished to know the value of Immunisation against
Diphtheria.
I am fortunately able to give you some first-hand information on the
subject, having been one of the first Medical Officers to use this method—
I take extracts of reports from (1) Privy Council Medical Research Council,
issued in 1927; and (2) Sir George Newman's Report on the "State of
the Public Health for the year 1928."
LOWESTOFT.
(1) "In June, 1925, a small outbreak of diphtheria occurred at the
Lovewell Road Infants' School, a frequent centre of infection, and. as
the result of investigation at the school, 10 children were removed as