[Report 1951] / Medical Officer of Health, Kettering Borough.

  • Kettering (England). Borough Council. no2009140039.
Date:
1951
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1951] / Medical Officer of Health, Kettering Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    9/60 (page 7)
    children reaching the age of i year. Dr. Logan makes this warning statement:—“ If parents leave their children unprotected there may be a return of diphtherial outbreaks of the possibility of which there have been one or two sharp reminders in recent months.” He estimates that if a non-immunised child contracts diphtheria his chances of dying from that disease are 7 times greater than those of an immunised child. From 1945 to 1947 the notifications of cases of diphtheria were three times higher, the death rate 22 times higher and the fatality rate (ratio of deaths to actual cases) 7 times higher among non-immunised than among immunised children. The reduction of the incidence of diphtheria has been achieved at a relatively small cost and millions of pounds have been saved by the closing of diphtheria wards at isolation hospitals and each year more than 2,000 nurses have been released for other work. Money spent on prevention truly yields enormous dividends. Sonne Dysentery which was prevalent in most parts of the country in 1950 continued to occur in 1951* This disease, like most other diseases, is preventable and will only cease to spread when we have a cleanliness- conscious public whose individual members carry out the simple rules of hand-washing, correct dish-washing and protecting food from dust, flies and other vermin. It is much more sensible and economical to prevent flies entering the house by fixing wooden outer doors and frames covered with wire-mesh to the entrance and windows than to spend time and money on spraying etc., trying to eliminate these pests after they have entered the house and contaminated the food. The use of individual towels, the provision of wash-hand basins in lavatory compartments and washing soiled garments and bedding in a sink or bowl which is not used for washing up crockery and cutleiy would also assist in the prevention of cases of gastro-enteritis. Dysen- tery germs have been isolated from the fingers and from under the nails of persons suffering from dysentery and carriers and excretors of the disease, from washing-up water, crockery and utensils during dysentery epidemics. Sonne Dysentery germs have also been grown from meat and fat in the debris from a slicing machine. The dysentery outbreak has resulted in a considerable loss of working hours especially of the mothers of young children suffering from the disease. Tuberculosis is another of the preventable infectious diseases, yet it is the largest killer amongst the preventable diseases. Vast sums of money are expended yearly on the treatment and caie of peisons suffering from tuberculosis but only a very small proportion is allotted to preven- tion. The marked decrease in the incidence of other infectious diseases does not apply to tuberculosis which is five times more common in house- hold contacts than in the general population. B.C.G. vaccination schemes at present only cover those at greatest risk of infection. I trust that the day is not far distant when it will be possible to reduce the incidence of the disease by carrying out B.C.G. vaccination of infants (all infants being tuberculin negative at birth) in the labour wards of our maternity hospitals and in their homes immediately after