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
Hampstead 1919
Report for the year 1919 of the Medical Officer of Health
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Cases of Infectious Disease occurring in each month during
| DISEASE. | MONTHS. | Totals. | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January. | February. | March. | April. | May. | June. | July. | August. | September. | October. | November. | December. | ||
| Cerebro Spinal | |||||||||||||
| Meningitis | _ | _ | __ | _ | 1 | _ | _ | 1 | |||||
| Diphtheria | 12 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 76 | |
| Dysentery | — | — | — | 2 | 1 | — | 1 | 3 | 1 | — | — | — | 8 |
| Encephalitis Letharica (Acute) | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||
| Enteric Fever | — | - | _ | — | — | 1 | 1 | — | 2 | _ | 7 | ||
| Erysipelas | 3 | 4 | 3 | — | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 41 | |||
| Malaria | 1 | 1 | _ | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 25 | |||
| Measles | 24 | 68 | 32 | 106 | 144 | 135 | 52 | 15 | 8 | 25 | 37 | 650 | |
| German Measles | 8 | 19 | 22 | 45 | 31 | 14 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 172 | ||
| Ophthalmia Neonatorum .. | 2 | _ | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | • 2 | 11 | ||||
| Pneumonia | — | _ | 36 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | _ | 3 | 3 | 73 | |
| Polio-Myelitis (Acute) | — | _ | — | — | — | — | 1 | 1 | 1 | _ | _ | 3 | |
| Puerperal Fever | _ | _ | — | — | — | — | — | _ | _ | _ | 1 | 2 | |
| Scarlet Fever | 5 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 26 | 14 | 20 | 116 | |
| Tuberculosis Pulmonary | 6 | 14 | 24 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 21 | 4 | 14 | 18 | 8 | 17 | 165 |
| Tuberculosis Non-Pulmonary | 7 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 48 | |
| Totals | 64 | 117 | 136 | 209 | 209 | 181 | 111 | 45 | 52 | 104 | 96 | 76 | 1400 |
Acute Encephalitis Lethargica, Acute Polio-Encephalitis.
These diseases were rendered compidsorily notifiable for the period
of one year by Regulations which came into force on January 1st, 191.9.
The Order of the Local Goveniment Board was designed to secure
the notification of cases of an infectious disease which occurred in
epidemic form in the early spring of 1918. The cases were described as
presenting a "group of unusual cerebral symptoms, resembling those of
a rare disease called Botulism, which is associated with the consumption
of infected food." The illness displayed the characters of an acute
general disease associated frequently with progressive languor, apathy,
and drowsiness passing into lethargy, with muscular weakness passing
into more or less complete disablement, and with various paralyses,
chiefly of muscles of the eyes and face.