London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Battersea 1902
Report on the health of the Metropolitan Borough of Battersea for the year 1903
This page requires JavaScript
Small-Pox. The following table gives the number of Small-pox cases and deaths in Battersea and in the County of London since 1891 :—
| Year. | Battersea. | London. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cases. | Deaths. | Cases. | Deaths. | |
| 1891 | – | – | 114 | 8 |
| 1892 | 2 | 1 | 425 | 41 |
| 1893 | 108 | 12 | 2,815 | 206 |
| 1894 | 8 | 2 | 1,193 | 89 |
| 1895 | 20 | 1 | 980 | 55 |
| 1896 | 4 | – | 225 | 9 |
| 1897 | 1 | – | 104 | 16 |
| 1898 | 1 | – | 33 | 1 |
| 1899 | – | – | 29 | 3 |
| 1900 | – | – | 86 | 4 |
| 1901 | 51 | 4 | 1,700 | 229 |
| 1902 | 169 | 25 | 7,797 | 1,314 |
| 1903 | 33 | – | 416 | 13 |
During the winter of 1902-3 Battersea was entirely free
from Small-pox. The last case in 1902 was notified on
27th September, and the first in 1903 on 3rd April. After the
latter date several groups of cases occurred; and the last case
of the year was notified on 7th September. The total number
of cases was 33. Fortunately, nearly all the patients had
the disease in a mild form, and no case was fatal.
A list of the cases is given on the following page. The
numbers indicate the order in which the patients were notified
to or discovered by the Medical Officer of Health .