Communicable Diseases
59. There was a decrease in the number of notifications of communicable diseases to 17,319 as compared with 19,938 in the previous year, The decrease was largely due to the smaller number of cases of tuberculosis notified but there were also fewer recorded cases of pertussis, malaria and measles. There were, however, nearly twice as many notifications of intestinal diseases, mainly bacillary dysentery as in the previous year.
60. There was a substantial reduction in the number of deaths attributed to notifiable diseases, there being 3,348 in 1953 as compared with 4,060 in 1952. Of these deaths 2,939 (87.8%) were due to tuberculosis.
61. More detailed comment on some of the Important notifiable diseuses is made below.
Enteric fever.
62. As already mentioned, the increase in this infection caused grave concern and the seriousness of the position can be seen from the figures below;
Year
Cases Dratha
Cose fatality rate
1946
221
115
$23
19:47
密情报
41
24.89%
1946
VOLANAKAN a beaut
11
09
22.27
1949
10%
29
21.84
1960
907
100
17.65
1951
1,024
134
13.1%
1952
PARANOIA ALIMENTANULệch
1.230
158
12.3%
1963
1,434
128
8.9%
63. These figures leave little doubt that unless a radical change is effected in the circumstances at present prevailing In the Colony a further increase in incidence may be expected next year which may well necessitate special steps being taken, in the middle of the year when the peak incidence may be expected, to provide special hospital accommodation for these cases.
IA
64. Public health staff concentrated on the supervision of food handling but the magnitude of this problem was such as to make it clear that it was necessary to resort to protective inoculation on a large scale. Special attention was paid to employees in restaurants and other establishments concerned with the handling of food. In addition, a mass inoculation campaign among school children was carried out by the School Health Service as there was clear evidence that the infection was occurring with greater frequency in the younger population Age Frous. Public response was not so good as it had been to other inoculation campaigns, possibly because two injections were necessary to give protection, and also, perhaps, because of the severe reaction liable to be experienced. Nevertheless, by the end of the year 91,846 persons had received protective inoculation.
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65. All notified Cases were treated in huspital, and chloramphenicol was the therapeutic agent generally used, with satisfactory results. The fatality rate, fell as can be seen in the figures above, and this can be attributed in part to earlier' diagnosis and improved methods of treatment,
Dysenteries.
66. The number of cases of bacillary dysentery notified was practically double that of the previous year, the figure being 662 as compared with 336 in 1952. There was an increase, too, in the number of notified cases of amoebic dysentery, there being 285 notifications as compared with 201 in the previous twelve months.
Diphtheria.
67. This infection which has been increasing noticeably since 1949 continued to increase during 1953. The two infec- tious disease hospitals were under severe strain again at the season of peak incidence early in 1953 since all cases were hospitalized once the diagnosis had been established. The total number of cases notified was 1,116 and there were 133 deaths, giving a fatality rate of 11.91%. Cases and deaths in the previous year numbered 987 and 157.
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