[Report 1959] / Medical Officer of Health, Edinburgh City.

  • Edinburgh (Scotland). City Council.
Date:
1959
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1959] / Medical Officer of Health, Edinburgh City. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    125/242 (page 125)
    CONTROL OF INFECTION. INFECTIOUS DISEASES. In 1959 a total of 3,913 notifications of infectious diseases occurring in the city was received by this department—a decrease of 986 compared to 1958. These figures include notifications of cases of tuberculosis and excluding this disease the number is 3,582—a decrease of 571 from 1958. It can be said therefore that this has been a relatively quiet year for infectious diseases in Edinburgh. Measles and dysentery were again top of the list and diphtheria and poliomyelitis were happily absent. The first four in order of magnitude were measles, dysentery, whooping-cough and primary pneumonia. Whooping cough rose from seventh place last year to third place this year. Weil’s disease reappeared, two cases occurring in September aided no doubt by the severe drought which Edinburgh was then experiencing. Food poisoning was less than half the 1958 figure and fell from fifth place to eighth. Dysentery and food poisoning both eminently preventable diseases are far too common and are a sad reflection not only on our personal hygiene but also on our willingness to apply knowledge of methods of prevention which is freely available to all. Although infectious hepatitis is not notifiable, a number of cases did come to light, particularly in schools, and preventive action was taken by introducing a hand-washing, hand- dipping in antiseptic routine, the use of individual or paper towels and the wiping of infected surfaces with an antiseptic solution. Deaths from notifiable disease (excluding tuberculosis) in 1959 totalled 1 (measles) as compared to 2 (cerebro-spinal fever) in 1958. In addition there were 45 deaths attributed to influenza in 1959 whereas there were 14 such deaths in 1958. Enteric Infections. Two cases of typhoid fever were notified during 1959 there being none the previous year. One was discovered in September in a male who had returned from Fatima. This patient had not been immunised by means of T.A.B. vaccine before going abroad and this again demonstrates the desirability of such a pro- cedure. The second case was in October, also a male (aged 44) whose source of infection was not established although this patient had a history of eating mussels. There were six cases of paratyphoid B notified—4 less than in 1958. Three were in one family—a grandmother, mother and child ; one was the grandmother of a case admitted to hospital in Inverness ; another was a married woman aged 32 ; and the sixth was a girl of eight years who was outwith Edinburgh during the probable time of infection. Investigations did not elicit the source of infection in these cases.