Colonel Wheatleyasked the Minister of Health the total number of cases of infantile paralysis which have occurred to date in the Navy, Army and R.A.F. since the outbreak of the present epidemic; the total number of cases amongst school children and school staff; and the total amongst the remainder of the civil population.
§ Mr. BevanI am informed that the number of cases in the United Kingdom reported to the Services Departments in 1947 up to the latest dates in October or November for which figures are available was 242. On the last two parts of the Question present information is as follows. During 1947 the number of primary notifications in England and Wales, including non-civilian, was 9,199, but corrections due to revised diagnosis may be expected to reduce this number by about one-fifth. Analysis by age-groups is not yet available, but probably about 35 per cent. of the cases were children of school age. I am unable to say how many cases there were among school staff.