[Report 1955] / Medical Officer of Health, Hailsham R.D.C.

  • Hailsham (England). Rural District Council.
Date:
1955
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1955] / Medical Officer of Health, Hailsham R.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    had both attended the same school just outside the district. They were both mild cases and made a complete recovery. Another girl from Selmeston, aged 9 years, was also admitted to the Eastbourne Isolation Hospital for observation but the diagnosis was not confirmed. In November a man, aged 25 years, from Warbleton, was admitted to the Eastbourne Isolation Hospital with paralytic poliomyelitis; he died a week after admission. This death is not attributable to this district as he normally resided outside and only returned to his home in Warbleton when taken ill. In December a boy from Hailsham, aged 2\ years, was admitted to the Eastbourne Isolation Hospital with paralytic poliomyelitis. He made a slow recovery with some residual paralysis of his leg. Encephalitis In July a boy, aged seven months, died of post-vaccinal encephalomyelitis ten days after vaccination. This is a very rare complication of normal vaccination which is unavoidable. The other notified case of encephalitis was a boy aged 15 years; this was a very mild case which was treated at home and the cause was unknown. Typhoid Fever There were two cases of typhoid fever at Hellingly Mental Hospital. In both cases the type of typhoid bacillus isolated was of the same Phage type as that which was found in the 1951 epidemic. Experience at Hellingly Hospital has long shown the frequently intermitting nature of the carrier state and it is possible for a carrier to go for long periods without excreting the typhoid bacillus. Of interest is the fact that at least twelve specimens had been taken from the first of these patients following the 1951 epidemic, all of which had been negative. Early detection of these two cases and the policy of using prophylactic T.A.B. inoculations no doubt helped to prevent the occurrence of an epidemic situation. Dysentery There were 16 cases of dysentery among the patients of Hellingly Mental Hospital, most of these occurring in the early months of the year. The infective organism in all cases was Shigella flexner X which had been the cause of previous outbreaks. Intense laboratory investigations are made to detect carriers in