OVER the last few months, we have heard a lot about whether babies should be given the MMR (three in one) vaccine to protect them against measles, mumps and rubella, or whether it should be given in three separate injections, writes Bolton Evening News archivist Les Gent.

A few weeks ago, though, I was looking through some old files in the Evening News' library, when I came across one titled "Epidemics"; when I looked more closely I realised that it contained cuttings from the paper in the 1920s, 30s, 40s and 50s. It quite intrigued me, and made me realise just how lucky we are these days not having to face such health problems.

We still have flu epidemics, of course, which are very dangerous in particular for elderly people. It was no different back in the first half of the last century.

"More people died in Bolton last week than during any week since the great influenza epidemic of 1918," reported the paper on February 22, 1929. "For this, the cold snap and the influenza epidemic were jointly responsible. Of these 142 deaths -- 24 were due to influenza, 21 to pneumonia, 20 to bronchitis and five to whooping cough." One good thing though: "The cold snap has almost completely stamped out scarlet fever in Bolton," reported the Medical Officer of Health, Dr C W Paget Moffatt.

So many deaths created other problems, too, particularly for the cemetery staffs "who already were finding it difficult to dig graves in the frozen ground, and were having to use picks to break through."

"We are having a terrible time," an official at Heaton Cemetery remarked. "We have over 60 funerals booked for this week so far." As a result unemployed labourers had to be taken on to help -- eight at Heaton, four at Tonge and two at Astley Bridge.

And in future years, influenza struck again on numerous occasions. In 1933 for example, on one February day 7,500 children and 100 teachers were ill and all the elementary schools were closed as a precaution; industry was also badly affected. That situation, although perhaps not always as bad, has repeated itself over the years.

But let's move away from influenza. In 1926 there was a story in the paper telling of an "increase of a mystery disease which takes a terrible toll on its victims, and leaves many of those who escape death in an incurable condition almost worse than death."

"Encephalitis lethargia, or as it is better known, sleepy sickness, is more to be dreaded than smallpox," said Dr Moffatt. During the five year period ending with 1925, there had been 74 cases of the disease in Bolton -- 22 have died of the disease, one had committed suicide, five died of other diseases, 23 made a complete recovery, but 23 others were left mentally impaired. Nothing had been discovered which gave any clue as to how to prevent the disease, and no real advance had been made in its treatment.

Then there was typhoid, which hit Farnworth and new Bury in particular in 1938. "The death roll in the Farnworth typhoid epidemic has increased to seven," reported the paper in August of that year; 37 cases were still in hospital.

But how had it started? No one seemed to know. "If it had happened in some terrible slum property where privies still existed, one would have though there was something in that," said the local Medical Officer, Dr A G Glass, "but the people affected are living in a garden part of the town and in the best of the houses."

He said that a great deal of sensation had been caused by the Press -- he did not include the local Press, which, he said, had been quite calm about it all (I am sure you will agree with me when I say I would never have expected anything else!).

However, it seems that some resident sof Farnworth were not so calm, the vicar of St James's New Bury said that a number of the affected families were being shunned and ostracized. He had been through three typhoid epidemics before coming to Farnworth, and had never had a sign of the fever. There was no need for fear or panic; he had also had 10 years' experience of a leper colony, and even lepers were not treated as were some of the affected families in the Farnworth typhoid epidemic. Oh, dear! From the pulpit as well...

In the late 1930s, diptheria was also rampant, not only in Bolton (on January 20, 1938, there were 51 cases at Hulton Lane Hospital) but also in outer areas such as Horwich, Atherton and Golborne. It was the biggest outbreak in Bolton for 20 years, and in the last month or two of the previous year the town had seen 20 deaths from the diptheria -- five cases a week of the disease was normal in Bolton. In Worsley and Little Hulton, things were so bad that as a precaution, six out of 14 schools and several Sunday schools were closed, cinemas cancelled all matinees.

As you will have noticed in the first paragraph, these days injections are given to prevent measles and mumps (as well as rubella, but I found nothing about epidemics of that disease). However, in 1952, Bolton was in the middle of a measles epidemic. On December 5 of that year, it was reported: "Last week in Bolton, 170 cases of measles were notified. This week before it was 157 cases, the week before that 129 cases. During November there were 589 cases."

And it went worse. In the week previous to December 17, 226 cases were notified, and it was not until February 1953 that the measles epidemic slowed down.

Otherwise though, that particular winter was quite healthy. Whooping cough and fever were not above normal. One local doctor said: "We have been rather quiet in the surgery. I haven't come across a case of influenza yet. There doesn't seem to be a lot of sickness about for the time of year." Unless you got measles, of course!

As for mumps, in 1948 an epidemic kept many of Bolton's children away from school. However, Dr R M Galloway, Medical Officer of Health for Bolton said that there had been no 'flu or pneumonia epidemics, few scarlet fever cases, no notification of measles, and there had been no diptheria in the town for some years.

As you will have noticed, we hear little of most of those diseases any more (although as recently as the 1980s and 1990s there have been outbreaks of measles, whooping cough and meningitis), presumably because of preventative injections introduced over the years, and the fact that we know better how to deal with them.

But as for the present argument as whether babies should be given three vaccines together, or singly, don't look at me for guidance. Ask the Prime Minister.....