[Report 1933] / Medical Officer of Health, Grays Thurrock U.D.C.
- Grays Thurrock (England). Urban District Council.
- Date:
- 1933
Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Credit: [Report 1933] / Medical Officer of Health, Grays Thurrock U.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.
41/48 page 39
![occurrence of diphtheria amongst untreated children is sometimes accepted by the lay public as an indictment of the scheme. The object of diphtheria immunization is to produce a juvenile population possessing natural immunity from the disease. This requires several years, and must receive support from a very large number of families to be of practical use. To immunise 500 children out of a school and infant population of, say, 5,000, would produce very little effect upon the incidence of of diphtheria. In my Report for 1932 I mentioned the desirability for centra] legislation to control the procedure of diphtheria immunization, owing to the varying methods of so-called Schick treatment which have come to my notice. It is unnecessary to repeat details of the system in operation at the local Clinic, except to say that no child can be regarded as immunized unless the parents have received a certificate to that effect, signed by the Medical Officer of Health. It is still my emphatic opinion that in the absence of some definite legal standards, including details of treatment which must be performed before a certificate of immunization is issued, and the absolute necessity for such a certificate, diphtheria immunization, maladministered, is likely to produce abundant evidence for its opponents. Diphtheria Immunization Clinic, 1933. No. of clinics held Total attendances of children No. receiving preliminary Schick test ,, not receiving ditto .... ,, found negative upon preliminary Schick test ,, found positive upon preliminary Schick test ,, receiving immunizing injections ,, re-Schicked after immunizing treatment: (a) found negative (b) found positive, and referred for further treatment „ of Certificates of Immunity issued 39 572 91 30 28 62 123 120 Nil 120](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b29265484_0041.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
