[Report 1965] / Medical Officer of Health, Reigate Borough.

  • Reigate (England). Borough Council.
Date:
1965
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1965] / Medical Officer of Health, Reigate Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    7/100 (page 3)
    BOROUGH OF REIGATE ANNUAL REPORT of the I .EPICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH for the ^car_19§5 To the Chairman and Members of the Public Health Committee Madam Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, I beg to present my Report on the public health, sanitary circumstances, and vital statistics of the Borough of Reigate in the year 19&5* The report is drawn up generally in accordance with the requirements of the Ministry of Health, as indicated in Circular 1/66, and contains the information requested in the Public Health Officers Regulations, 1959* The state of the public health of the Borough in 1965* i*1 so far as it can be assessed from returns of morbidity and mortality and the information available from other sources, was generally very satisfactory. There was no undue prevalence of infectious or epidemic illness; in fact, the rates of prevalence of the notifiable infections, including tuberculosis, were, without exception, appreciably lower than usual. Attention should, in particular, be drawn to the very low incidence of bacterial food poisoning, bacillary dysentery and other intestinal infections and to the complete absence, for the seventh consecutive year, of confirmed cases of acute poliomyelitis and other acute infectious diseases of the nervous system. The position \?as no less favourable as regards non- no tifiable infections, particularly influenza, and non-specific respiratory and winter ailments, as judged by the sickness claims submitted by insured persons to the Ministry of Pensions & National Insurance and the returns of school attendance. There were no reports of outbreaks of epidemic vomiting or fungal and virus foot infections which have, on occasion, been troublesome in the past. In the preventive field it is pleasing to record satisfactory rates of acceptance of protective vaccination against the ever-widening range of infectious diseases for which effective immunising agents are now available. A recent development in this field is the introduction of measles vaccine, though some time must elapse before the degree and duration of the immunity it confers can be accurately assessed. It is not at present proposed to conduct any special campaign or publicity to encourage acceptance of measles vaccine, but to make it available to children whose parents expressly wish them to have it. Protective vaccination against the enteric group of diseases is strongly advised for persons visiting continental countries where these diseases are likely to be contracted. Facilities for such vaccination are not usually offered as a matter of course under the immunisation scheme, but are made available by the Health Authority to members of organised school parties on conducted visits to continental holiday resorts. Other important measures in the prevention and control of infection include the routine follow-up and, ’where necessary, the examination of specimens, from known contacts of infectious disease and the surveillance of persons entering or returning to this country from declared smallpox infected or endemic areas. Brief reference is also made to the action taken in relation to immigrants from Asiatic countries in view of their especial susceptibility to tuberculosis and certain other infections. Screening procedures of one kind and another arc proving of value in the detection of disease in its early stages, when it is most likely to be amenable to treatment. That best known, perhaps, is the Mass Radiography Service. The findings reported at surveys conducted locally during the year clearly demonstrate the importance of periodic chest x-ray examination, particularly of males over middle age. Facilities for the cytological screening of women in specified age groups for the early detection of cervical cancer are being developed as rapidly as laboratory facilities will allow and will, it is hoped, be available locally in the near future, at least on a limited scale. -3-