[Report 1950] / Medical Officer of Health, Warwickshire County Council.

  • Warwickshire (England). County Council.
Date:
1950
Catalogue details

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

Credit: [Report 1950] / Medical Officer of Health, Warwickshire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    6/48 (page 4)
    one-third were children under 5, just over one-third were schoolchildren, and one-third were 15 years of age and over. At the time of writing, about nine months after the peak of the epidemic, one-third of the patients were still under treatment ; most of these will recover with a degree of residual paralysis which may only be slight. Of the other 81 cases, 64 have recovered com¬ pletely, with no paralysis, 9 have recovered but have some degree of paralysis, and 8 died. In the present state of knowledge of this disease, it is impossible to take decisive prevent¬ ive measures, but advice is given which may reduce the size of the epidemic. During the period when poliomyelitis was prevalent in the midlands, tonsil and adenoid operations and immun¬ isation against diphtheria were temporarily suspended. I have already discussed in this letter and in my report as County School Medical Officer the serious results which may arise from taking this possibly sensible precaution, and it will be clear that great vigilance must be exercised and all available evidence considered on any occasion when the question of suspending preventive measures against one disease are weighed against the possible increase of another. Other Infectious Diseases. Measles was widespread in the county during 1950, and 5,347 cases were notified, the largest number since 1941. Most areas of the county had high notification rates, but the out¬ break was particularly marked in the Rugby and North Western areas, where 17 cases per 1,000 of the population were notified. It is satisfactory to report that there were no deaths from this disease in 1950. In 1941, with a comparable number of cases, there were 23 deaths. Notifications of whooping cough also reached the highest level since 1941. In 1950, there were 1,578 cases and 4 deaths, compared with 1,679 cases and 25 deaths in 1941. 629 cases of scarlet fever were notified during 1950 and for the fourth year in succession, there were no deaths. In 1941, there were 634 cases and 2 deaths. Venereal Diseases. The number of new cases of venereal disease treated at clinics fell from 228 in 1949 to 180 in 1950 (124 men and 56 women). There was also a substantial decrease in the number of persons who ceased to attend clinics before their treatment was complete, and nearly all de¬ faulters are non-infective. This improvement is due largely to the use of penicillin in combating the disease ; short but intensive treatment has, in most cases, dispensed with the need for patients to attend clinics weekly over long periods during which they become discouraged and default. Ante-Natal and Post-natal Clinics. The division of responsibility for providing clinics for pregnant women is a thorny pro¬ blem. Since the implementation of the National Health Service Act, the majority of women have decided that the hospital is the proper place for a child to be born. This is in many ways strange, for an ever increasing number of young mothers are being allotted new council houses, which are ideally suitable for home confinements. The Act, however, gives considerable financial advantage to the mother who has her baby in hospital, for while in hospital there is no expense, whereas, if the baby is delivered at home there is considerable expense, and mothers receive the same allowances in each case. This state of affairs has led to a drift of mothers away from home confinements at a time when a greater number of babies could have been born in good modern houses, and attended by the district midwife, who has usually had many years mid¬ wifery experience. It is desirable that more efforts should be made to persuade the mother that it is safe and proper to have a baby at home and that by doing so, she can be treated as an individual coming under the care of one midwife and one health visitor, and able to call on the advice and help of her own family doctor. Dental treatment of expectant and nursing mothers and pre-school children. Under Section 22 of the National Health Service Act, the local health authority is re¬ quired to make arrangements for the dental care of expectant and nursing mothers and of chil¬ dren under five. The aim of this section of the Act was to give priority to mothers and young children, and it was intended that the service should be expanded to provide for the dental examination of all expectant mothers and periodical examination of young children. Owing to