Nothing to be Alarmed About

If you want to know more about the book, the Contents page on this blog provides a succinct summary. The following is the introduction that I’ve included on the book’s flyer:

“In the 21^st century, poliomyelitis is largely forgotten. In Britain, the oldest generation has some memory of the epidemics of 1947-1950 but, following the successful vaccination programmes of the 1950s, epidemiologists and medical historians tend to think of the disease – if at all – as little more than an historical curiosity.

“In this book I consider the lessons to be learned from outbreaks of polio in England and Wales in 1938. They occurred in various places, notably in Essex and south Wales. Both central government and local communities were alarmed. Although a major epidemic did not develop, schools were closed and local Medical Officers of Health set about tracing contacts, isolating victims and warning the public. Cinemas were forced to close and many local businesses felt threatened. In addition, Britain was anticipating an impending war: it was a time of increasing anxiety.

How did the government and local authorities react? What was done to protect children? What happened to those who fell ill, and how were they treated? How was everyday life affected? In addressing these questions, I draw primarily on two sources: the British Newspaper Archive and the Wellcome Collection of annual reports of Medical Officers of Health. Two important but less substantial sources are the British Medical Journal and the NOIDs (Notification of Infectious Diseases) historical database of the UK Health Security Agency. By collating information from these sources, I have described in some detail how outbreaks started and developed, and how local communities responded. I feature the contribution of various medical officers of health, such as Dr. John Hatton of Braintree in Essex and Dr. Thomas Evans of Swansea.

“I’m a gerontologist. Over fifty years I’ve undertaken sociological research in the fields of health and ageing, editing the journal Ageing and Society and producing several research-based books. I’m the author of Ageism (Open University Press, 1995) and Unmasking Age (Policy Press, 2011). More recently, I’ve published research on the outbreak of yellow fever in Swansea in 1865.”