London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Battersea 1908
Report on the health of the Metropolitan Borough of Battersea for the year 1908
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The following are the numbers and percentages to total cases of "return " cases of Scarlet Fever since 1905:—
| Total cases. | "Return" cases. | Per cent. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1905 | 801 | 23 | 2.87 |
| 1906 | 34 | 3.36 | |
| 1907 | 922 | 47 | 5.09 |
| 1908 | 1,099 | 52 | 4.73 |
The number of cases sent back from hospital notified as
Scarlet Fever, and in which the diagnosis was found to be erroneous,
was 54, or 4.9 per cent., as compared with 5.9 per cent.
in 1907.
No legal proceedings were taken for contraventions of the
infectious disease provisions of the Public Health (London) Act,
1891, during 1908. It was found necessary, however, to caution
persons for carelessness in several instances.
Diphtheria.
The number of Diphtheria notifications received during 1908
(including Membranous Croup) in the Borough of Battersea was
340. A slight increase as compared with 1907, when the figures
were 315. After a period of quiescence, the disease has during
the past two or three years shown evidence of again becoming
prevalent. In 1905 the lowest number of cases ever previously
recorded in the Borough of Battersea were notified, but during the
following year a decided increase in the number of cases notified
in Battersea, in common with the County of London, and it may
be that we are to experience another epidemic wave of incidence.
The case rate, death rate and case mortality from Diphtheria
and Membranous Croup since 1891 are set out in the following
table:—