[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Enfield].

  • Enfield (London, England). London Borough.
Date:
[1967?]
Catalogue details

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

Credit: [Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Enfield]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Marriages The Registrar General reports that the provisional figure for the number of marriages solemnised in the London Borough of Enfield during the year 1966, was 2,207. (See Statistical Tables 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.) PREVALENCE AND CONTROL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE Under Section 144 of the Public Health Act, 1936, and Regulations thereunder, the following diseases are notifiable by medical practitioners to the Medical Officer of Health:— Scarlet fever, erysipelas, diphtheria and membranous croup, smallpox, enteric fever, typhus fever, relapsing fever, cholera, acute poliomyelitis, acute encephalitis, meningococcal infection, measles, whooping cough, ophthalmia neonatorum, puer peral pyrexia, malaria, dysentery, acute primary pneumonia, acute influenzal pneu monia, anthrax, tuberculosis, leprosy, food poisoning (Food and Drugs Act, 1955) and plague (L.G.B. Order 1900). Provisions in relation to the control of infectious diseases by local authorities are contained in Sections 145 to 180 of the Public Health Act, 1936, as amended by both the National Health Service Act, 1946, and the Public Health Act, 1961. Special provisions in relation to food poisoning are contained in the Food and Drugs Act, 1955. Further provisions are contained in Regulations made under these various Acts. The most prevalent infectious disease during the year was again measles, which made up nearly 80% of notifications received. In recent years the biennial periodi city of prevalence of this disease has become blurred by the winter epidemic carry ing over from one year to the next. Compared with last year the number of cases of dysentery is considerably down. Once again it is pleasing to report the absence of the former common infections such as diphtheria, poliomyelitis and enteric fever. Seventy-three cases of respiratory tuberculosis and 16 cases of tuberculosis of other organs, including genito-urinary tract, lymph glands and meninges were notified. There were eight deaths from the disease. The six deaths from respira tory tuberculosis and the two deaths from tuberculosis of other organs all occurred in persons over the age of 45 years, three being persons over 75 years of age. Of all notified cases of infectious disease, 1,241 were school children, and head teachers informed us of 509 children absent from school due to infectious or suspected infectious disease. A number of these cases notified by head teachers were pupils suffering from diarrhoea and vomiting. 14