Nothing to be Alarmed About

How did the number of cases of polio in 1938 with the number in 1937? This seemed like a simple question to answer. Oddly enough I don’t remember many MOHs raising it when writing their reports on 1938. For most the numbers in the two years were sufficiently small to be of little concern.

There was one exception however. In Devon there was a significant outbreak in 1937: 39 cases compared with just nine in 1938. The outbreak was largely confined to two rural districts in the centre of the county. The MOHs involved wrote some interesting commentaries, clearly drawing upon extensive efforts to trace the spread of the disease. Currently I’m drafting out a detailed account and will post this up sometime soon.