[Report 1946] / Medical Officer of Health, Middlesbrough County Borough.

  • Middlesbrough (England). County Borough Council.
Date:
1946
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1946] / Medical Officer of Health, Middlesbrough County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    77/106 (page 75)
    DIPHTHERIA IMMUNISATION. The work of Diphtheria Immunisation carried out by the Public Health Department in the year 1946, is shown by the following figures :— No. of children under 5 years of age immunised .. .. .. .. 1,735 No. of schoolchildren immunised .. . . 786 The following are the percentages of the total number of children in the town who have been immunised in the two groups:— Percentage of children under 5 years of age immunised . . . . .. . . 50.61% Percentage of schoolchildren immunised . . 73.93% A reasonably high level of immunisation has therefore been maintained during the year, indeed the percentage figure of children immunised is the highest ever recorded in Middlesbrough. This fact is reflected in the comparatively few cases of diphtheria notified in the town during the year, which numbered 52 and the absence of any deaths due to diphtheria in 1946. It is necessary to press ahead however, to secure if possible, that every child is immunised against diphtheria as soon as possible after the age of 12 months. It is only when at least 75% of all children in the town are immunised that we can be certain of a marked reduction in the incidence of diphtheria. Full use of publicity material has been made during the year to advertise the efficiency of Diphtheria Immunisation and the facilities available locally. Free facilities exist at schools, school clinics and Infant Welfare Centres for the carrying out of this work and in the Brambles Farm area during the summer months the experiment was tried, whereby a Mobile Team visited the area and immunised the children on the spot. This method has many possibilities and will be further extended.