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
Finsbury 1913
Annual report on the public health of Finsbury for the year 1913
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Scarlet Fever, 1901-1913.
| Year. | Actual No. of cases. | No. of Deaths. | Case Mortality. No. of Deaths per 100 cases notified. | No. of cases per 10,000 of Population. | No. of Deaths per 10,000 of Population. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1901 | 495 | 19 | 3.8 | 48.9 | 1.8 |
| 1902 | 381 | 15 | 3.9 | 38.1 | 1.5 |
| 1903 | 283 | 12 | 4.2 | 28.7 | 1.2 |
| 1904 | 323 | 17 | 5.2 | 33.2 | 1.7 |
| 1905 | 456 | 21 | 4.6 | 47.5 | 2.1 |
| 1906 | 422 | 13 | 6.1 | 44.6 | 1.3 |
| 1907 | 471 | 16 | 3.4 | 50.5 | 1.7 |
| 1908 | 387 | 12 | 3.1 | 42.1 | 1.3 |
| 1909 | 231 | 9 | 3.89 | 25.5 | .9 |
| 1910 | 126 | 4 | 3.17 | 14.1 | .4 |
| 1911 | 171 | 6 | 3.5 | 19.5 | .6 |
| 1912 | 159 | 5 | 3.15 | 18.4 | .58 |
| 1913 | 251 | 5 | 1.93 | 29.6 | .59 |
Probable Source.—In 54 cases the infection was derived
from previous cases in the same families, in another 2 the
disease had been contracted from mild unrecognised cases in the
affected households.
Thirteen were examples of school infection, twenty-five were
caught from playfellows in the street, eleven had been infected
when visiting or being visited by friends or relatives.
Five cases were not discovered until between 2 and 3 weeks
after the rashes had appeared. The patients were then peeling.
They were mild missed cases that had apparently only suffered
from slight headaches and sore throat, which their parents attributed
to the "heat" or some other cause. Ten developed scarlet"
fever while detained in hospital for some other causes.