[Epidemic risks and their management in Łódź between 1945-1950]

The sanitary and anti-epidemic activities in Łódź between 1945-1950 were characterized by a determination to maintain the good health of the citizens. At that time Łódź just like other industrial conurbations, was in a very difficult economic, social and epidemiological situation. The multisector health care system, operative at the time, which was based on organizational structures from before 1939, effectively managed the risks of epidemics. In this difficult post-war period epidemics of endemic typhus, diphtheria and scarlet fever were successfully managed in Łódź, and the incidence of other acute infectious diseases decreased significantly. The sanitary conditions in the city also greatly improved. The structures of sanitary units were restored, and they in turn developed and enforced the outlines of anti-epidemic activities. The changes occurring after 1948, which aimed at the centralization of the national government, changed the range of responsibility of various institutions for the epidemiological situation in the country.