Administration report of the Public Health Department of the City of Port-of-Spain.

  • Port of Spain (Trinidad and Tobago). Public Health Department.
Date:
[1950]
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: Administration report of the Public Health Department of the City of Port-of-Spain. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    OTHER NOTIFIABLE INFECTIOUS DISEASES No notifications of Acute Anterior Poliomyelitis, of Encephalitis Lethargica, or of Paralytic Rabies were received at the Public Health Department during 1950, No case of Plague, Cholera, Typhus, Yellow Fever or of Small Pox, either Variola Major or Variola Minor (Alastrim) was reported to the Department during the year under report. ACUTE ANTERIOR POLIOMYELITIS Notifications and Deaths, 1927-50 Year No. of Cases reported Deaths Year No. of Cases reported Deaths Year No. of Cases reported Deaths 1927-29 ... — 1936 3 — 1941 15 4 1930 5 1 1937 10 1 1942 26 3 1931 — 2 1938 2 — 1943-44 ... — — 1932 3 — 1939 1 — 1945 — 1 1933-35 ... — — 1940 — — 1946 1 — 1947 — 1 1948 3 2 1949 4 — 1950 — — NON-NOTIFIABLE INFECTIOUS DISEASES Though relegated to what is apparently a subsidiary position by the fact that these diseases are non-notifiable, yet, indeed and in fact, they include some of the most infectious diseases that occur in the Urban Sanitary District, and also other diseases which constitute major public health problems. 1 need only refer to measles, whooping cough, and influenza as examples of the former and syphilis, dysentery, and ankylostomiasis as examples of the latter. As a matter of fact though the list of notifiable infectious diseases has remained practically fixed for a number of years now, it is liable at any moment to be added to by the inclusion of one or more of the diseases included under the heading “Non-Notifiable Infectious Diseases”, the criterion being relative prevalence of the disease and its liability to spread and become a major public health problem. In such circumstances it is a matter of imperative necessity that information as to its relative prevalence and as to how fast and where cases are occurring is available at the earliest possible opportunity in order that such preventive measures as are at our disposal can be applied, and these facts can only be obtained by compulsory notification. It may be asked what really can be done to check the spread of an infectious disease like measles, whooping cough or influenza? The answer is that a great deal can be achieved by isolation even at home and by current and terminal disinfection. Under existing circumstances, seeing that only the death returns are available, only a rough and very likely inaccurate estimate can be formed of the relative prevalence of these diseases. The treatment of these diseases is getting more and more efficient in proportion as opportunities for early diagnosis become more frequent and newer and better drugs make their appearance on the market, and an appreciable reduction in the mortality attributable to these diseases has been effected. During the year under report, 14 deaths from these diseases were certified to the Public Health Department as compared with 15 in 1949, 16 in 1948, and 29 in 1947. Of these deaths syphilis was responsible for 8 deaths, influenza 4 and dysentery 2. Non-Notifiable Infectious Diseases—Home and Hospital Deaths, 1950 Diseases Deaths Hospital Deaths per cent, of Total Deaths Corresponding percentage for the year 1949 At Home At Hospital Total Malaria _ _ 100.00 Whooping Cough — — — — — Influenza ... 3 1 4 25.00 75.00 Dysentery ... — 2 2 100.00 -- Ankylostomiasis — — — Syphilis 7 1 8 12.50 71.43 Leprosy — — — — 100.00 Total 10 4 14 28.57 62.50