[Report 1944] / Medical Officer of Health, Skelton & Brotton U.D.C.

  • Skelton and Brotton (England). Urban District Council.
Date:
1944
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1944] / Medical Officer of Health, Skelton & Brotton U.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Infectious disease was not prevalent in the district in 1944 : there were 16 cases of scarlet fever, nine of them in the last three months but widely spread over the district. This disease is now usually one of the least dangerous of the infections, and, for those cases removed to hospital and treated with scarlet fever antitoxin, an isolation period of two weeks is usually found sufficient. Five cases of measles were notified but more were intimated by Head Teachers in the last quarter of the year, particularly from Brotton. School intimations also were received of an epidemic of mumps in Lingdale in November and December. Two notifications of diphtheria were received, but in one the diagnosis was not confirmed after removal to hospital and bacteriological examination. The number of children immunised in this and adjoining districts during 1944 are given in the following table ; in this district only 58 children were immunised during the year. As there were 240 children born in 1943, who would, during the year, have reached an age at which they should be protected by immunisation, it is apparent that the number of unprotected children in the district is increasing. It cannot be too strongly emphasised that diphtheria in a child not protected by immunisation is a verv serious disease with a high death-rate; that immunisation is safe, almost painless and has no unpleasant after-effects ; and that it affords considerable protection against catching the disease or, if the disease is nevertheless contracted, it will ensure a mild attack. Diphtheria Immunisation : N. R. Combined Districts. Guisborough U.D. No. of children immunised : Loftus U.D. Redcar Borough. Saltburn and Marske U.D. Skelton and Brotton U.D. during 1943 145 223 890 176 410 during 1944 Estimated number of children 134 114 437 111 58 under 5 years of age Estimated percentage of these 620 635 1810 459 1090 immunised at end of 1944 Estimated number of children 63 48 66 80 60 aged 5 —14 years Estimated percentage of these 1187 1225 3698 816 1957 immunised at end of 1944 (A) Cases of diphtheria in 1944 72 75 65 98 60 in children under 15 years (B) Number included in (A) known to have completed a course of immunisation not less than 12 weeks before 1 7 36 0 1 the onset (C) Deaths from diphtheria in 0 4 16 0 1944 in children under 15 yrs (D) Number included in (C) known to have completed a course of immunisation not less than 12 weeks before ,. 0 0 2 0 0 the onset of the disease — — 0 — — There were twenty new cases of tuberculosis during the year, and six deaths from this disease. Both these figures are higher than pre-war ones. The following table illustrates the progress that has been made in dealing with tuberculosis :—