REPORT
SECTION ONE

i. Knowledge shown by parents of Diphtheria.

ii. Incidence of Diphtheria.

iii. Incidence of immunisation.

i. Knowledge shown by parents of the cause, dangers and prevention of Diphtheria .

Table 1

It is shown in Table 1 that approximately half (51%) of the parents interviewed said they did not know the cause of Diphtheria, and that only some 13% returned what may be considered a sufficient answer, that the disease was caused by a germ on the throat. If “contagious illness” and “germs” are construed as adequate answers, then a third of the parents interviewed showed some awareness of the cause of Diphtheria..

The analysis of this part of the question shows that the degree of knowledge of the cause of Diphtheria is associated with social class, the upper classes (A and B) having more knowledge than the other classes. Only 35% of the D class were able to give an answer, and only 6% of this class said that Diphtheria. was due to a germ in the throat.

Knowledge of the dangers of Diphtheria is much more widespread than knowledge of its cause, and again the social class analysis shows that awareness of the dangers of the disease increases as the social scale is ascended.

What is probably the most interesting feature of the table is that knowledge of the way to prevent Diphtheria is very much more widespread and accurate than knowledge of its cause and dangers. 79% of parents were able to give a positive answer, and 66% said that immunisation was the method of prevention. This proportion is remarkably uniform among the social classes and immunisation groups.

Is this greater knowledge of the way to prevent Diphtherias due to the fact that D.I. publicity has emphasized prevention of Diphtheria more than the dangers of Diphtheria, and much more than, its cause? It would appear to be, for what may be considered the correct answer, “immunisation”, is returned almost equally for all classes, 67% for A, B & C classes and 60% for the D class. The cause and dangers of Diphtheria are matters of gen­eral knowledge and general intelligence upon which there has been no great publicity, and the degree of knowledge is shown to be associated with social class. Prevention of Diphtheria, on the other hand, has been the dominant message of D. I. publicity, to which all social classes have been subjected.

Table 2

These data have also been analysed by England and Welsh “good” and “bad” areas for Diphtheria immunisation, and for Scotland, in Table 2. Generally, the parents in “good” areas were able to answer more and showed more accurate knowledge than those in the “bad” areas. In England and Wales 63% in both “good” and “bad” areas returned the answer that Immunisation was the way to prevent Diphtheria. The Scottish “good” and “bad” areas are combined in this table, the total figures showing that in the districts surveyed knowledge of the cause and dangers of Diphtheria is on a level with the English and Welsh “bad” areas, and that knowledge of immunisation is approximately the same as in the English and Welsh “good” and “bad” areas It would seem, therefore, that the proportion of parents knowing of immunisation, 60 - 65%, is uniform in each social class and regionally.

Table 3

Knowledge of Diphtheria is also analysed by (group I), families in which all children are immunised; (group II), families in which some children have been immunised; (group III), families in which no children have been immunised. Parents in group I answered more positively and more accurately then those in the other groups.

ii. Incidence of Diphtheria in the families of parents interviewed.

Table 4

The incidence of Diphtheria in the families covered by the enquiry is shown to be less in the A and B classes than in the C and D. classes. It is also shown that in the districts investigated the incidence of the disease is less in the Scottish than in the English and Welsh districts.

iii Incidence of Immunisation in the families of parents interviewed.

The proportion of families having immunised children is -

Table 5

The proportion of immunised children of pre-school age in England and Wales is 44% in the “good” and. 26% in the “bad” areas. Of children of school age 71% were immunised in the “good” and 56% in the “bad” areas.

The figures for the Scottish districts surveyed reflect the general situation in Scotland in that there is a high rate of immunisation among children of school age in both the “good” and “bad” districts, but that the rate of immunisation among children of pre-school age is less in the “bad” than in the “good” areas.