[Report 1953] / Medical Officer of Health, West Oxfordshire Combined Districts and Banbury R.D.C. (Chipping Norton Borough, Witney U.D.C., Woodstock Borough, Chipping Norton R.D.C., Witney R.D.C., Banbury R.D.C.).

  • West Oxfordshire Combined Districts.
Date:
1953
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1953] / Medical Officer of Health, West Oxfordshire Combined Districts and Banbury R.D.C. (Chipping Norton Borough, Witney U.D.C., Woodstock Borough, Chipping Norton R.D.C., Witney R.D.C., Banbury R.D.C.). Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Infectious Diseases Apart from Measles and Whooping Cough the incidence of the noti¬ fiable diseases has been extremely low. 1953 was an epidemic year for Measles, 871 cases being notified, this number is considerably less than during the last outbreak in 1951. No deaths occurred. There were 186 cases of Whooping Cough notified. Only 33 cases of Scarlet Fever occurred as compared with 52 in 1952. There were 22 cases of Pneumonia. The incidence of Poliomyelitis was rather higher than usual. 8 paralytic cases occurred with one death, an acute case of bulber paralysis. There was one non-paralytic case notified. Apart from the fatal case, the other cases were mild with very slight paralysis. Details are given under the various districts. Food Hygiene Only one case of Food Poisoning occurred during the year, an isolated case in a young woman in the Chipping Norton Rural District. This subject is one which is becoming increasingly important. Most years recently one or two isolated cases of Salmonella infection have been reported by the laboratory, although so far at least there has been no actual outbreak of Food Poisoning. But the fact remains that potential sources of infection exist in the community and this means that extreme care is necessary on the part of all who engage in the handling and preparation of food, especially in hotels, restaurants, cafes and other premises where food is sold. In view of this the Ministry have now asked for certain statistical information regarding the inspection of food premises for 1953, and this is given under the reports for the individual local authorities. Sanitary Inspectors now carry out routine inspections of the food premises in the area to ensure that the provisions of the Food and Drugs Act 1938 and the Food By-laws are being compiled with. Water Supply (i) Quality and Quantity Speaking generally it may be said that in those parts of the area which are served by piped supplies the water has been sufficient in quantity and satisfactory in quality. There are many cases, however, where there is no piped supply and the position is most unsatisfactory. In previous Annual Reports the special mention has been made of Hook Norton, where water has had to be carted since 1935. The Ministry have now given approval to the water scheme for the Banbury Rural District and it seems likely that a public supply for Hook Norton will be available in 1955. Other villages where the position is unsatisfactory are Barford St. John and St. Michael, Wardington, Churchill, Great Rollright and Great Tew.