[Report 1939] / Medical Officer of Health, Slough Borough.

  • Slough Borough Council
Date:
1939
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1939] / Medical Officer of Health, Slough Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    13/16 page 11
    On the occurrence of a case, all contacts are examined and, if necessary, swabbed, and in the case of schoolchildren the class concerned is examined for possible carriers. Two deaths from Diphtheria were recorded. One was a boy of four, who died in the Cippenham Isolation Hospital nine days after admission; the other, a woman of 24, who, though ordinarily resident in this area, died in the Aylesbury Isolation Hospital, the disease complicating Pyelitis of pregnancy. The death rate from Diphtheria for the year is 0.037 per 1000, comparing favour¬ ably with the National rate of 0.05. In view of the increasing incidence of Diphtheria, the Council has approved the expenditure incurred in offering immunisation to all Elementary and Secondary schoolchildren in the Borough, and this work is proceeding. Under the County Council scheme, parents who so desire may have their children immunised against Diphtheria at the Welfare Clinics. No case of Enteric Fever, Cerebro-Spinal Fever, or Infantile Paralysis was notified during the year. Twenty-eight cases of Pneumonia and twenty-six of Erysipelas occurred, as compared with thirty-six and thirty-three in the previous year. Measles and Whooping Cough were made notifiable infectious diseases on the 23rd October, and, to the end of the year, six cases of Measles and seven cases of Whooping Cough were notified. Although the incidence of Infectious Diseases shows no appreciable increase as a result of the influx of evacuees and the military into the area, one must anticipate there is likely to be an increase in Infectious Diseases of all kinds with the progress of the war and the unavoidable strains and stresses placed upon the population. In order to provide additional accommodation for Infectious Diseases and a Sick Bay for evacuees suffering from Minor Ail¬ ments, the following arrangements have been made:— 1. Infectious Diseases. Thirty-nine additional beds for the use of the Borough, the Urban and Rural Districts of Eton, were provided by the Eton Joint Hospital Board, as follows:— (a) Sixteen beds at the Board’s Isolation Hospital at Cippenham: by using the day Nurses’ quarters as Wards and housing the nurses in villas adjoining the hospital (brought into use on November 15th). (b) 'Twenty-three beds at Burnham at the former Infants’ Convalescent Home (opened January 15th, 1940). 2. Accommodation for Minor Ailments. Twenty-six beds at Fulmer Rise, in the Eton Rural District. This Home also serves the three constituent Authorities of the South Bucks area, and is managed by a Committee consisting of one representative from each (opened 27th November).
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3