Leatherhead Matters

Last week, William George Bunter, better known as Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School  had his 100th birthday. Bunter is a fictional character created by Charles Hamilton, one of the world’s most prolific author. Hamilton created the series for the boys’ weekly magazine The Magnet (published from February 15, 1908 to 1940).

The character was brought to life in a  BBC TV series in 1953. The character of Billy Bunter was played by the late Gerald Campion in 40 black and white episodes lasting 30 minutes. The series finished in 1961. The program was a must watch TV program for children returning home from school. The programme always started at 5:40pm and probably contributed to the practice of kids watching TV with a plate of sandwiches, in front of the TV. The TV series also spawned a Christmas stage version in the West End from 1958-63.

The setting in a public school, included lots of corporal punishment (caning), bullying and other politically incorrect dialogue. With his gargantuan appetite for pies, Billy Bunter was one of the first obese TV characters. It was pure knockabout but, the story lines wouldn’t get near the pc BBC today. However, Billy Bunter represented a part of the current, older generation’s childhood so ….Happy Birthday Billy!

UK Measles cases last year were the highest since records began in 1995. The Health Protection Agency warned that the worst may still be to come, with further outbreaks expected in the coming years.

 MMR vaccination rates have fallen over the past decade, following the publication (199 of Dr Andrew Wakefield’s now discredited research suggesting a link between MMR vaccination and autism in infants. Last year there were 971 cases of measles recorded , up from 740 in 2006. Four out of five cases were in children under 15. Three quarters of cases occurred in London and the South-East. 

Measles Virus   

The Health Protection Agency said most cases were associated with outbreaks in travelling and religious communities (is this code for “immigrant” communities?), which have traditionally had low rates of vaccination. But it added that there had been “numerous smaller outbreaks in nurseries and schools”.

Measles, also known as rubeola, is a disease caused by a virus and is spread through respiration (contact with fluids from an infected person’s nose and mouth, either directly or, through airborne transmission), and is highly contagious. 90% of people without immunity, sharing a house with an infected person will catch it. Infected people remain contagious from the appearance of the first symptoms until 3–5 days after a rash appears. Because it is so easily spread in high density populations, vaccination is still the safest way to protect vulnerable infants.

Complications with measles are relatively common, ranging from relatively mild and less serious diarrhea, to pneumonia and encephalitis, corneal ulceration leading to corneal scarring. Complications are usually more severe amongst adults who catch the virus.The fatality rate from measles for otherwise healthy people in developed countries is low: approximately 1 death per thousand cases. 

Reports of measles go as far back to at least 600 B.C. however, the first scientific description of the disease and its distinction from smallpox is attributed to the Persian physician Ibn Razi (Rhazes) 860-932.

H/T Wikipedia: for technical info