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
St Pancras 1918
Report of the Medical Officer of Health for the year 1918
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41
It will be seen that there were three distinct waves of the disease. The first
began during the :26th week (ended June 29th), reached its maximum in the
28th week, and aft rwards declined. The second wave was very much
greater. It had definitely begun during the 41st week (ended October 12th),
and reached its height in the 44th week (ended November 2nd), when there
were no fewer than 144 deaths from influenza, and then, slowly declined until,
in January, 1919, the mortality was small. It began to rise again in the 5th
week of 1919 (ended February 1st), and reached a maximum in the 9th week
(ended March 1st), practically disappearing by the end of April (18th week),
since which date there has been no recrudescence up to October. The third
wave was less severe than the second.
In regard to whether the disease is likely to increase again seriously in the
near future, it should be noticed that in the outbreak of the "nineties,"
the abnormal mortality from influenza continued for several years, and
was almost as great in 1895 and 1900 as in 1891 and 1^92.
In the following table the total deaths from influenza, from the week ended October 5tb, 1918, to the week ended May 3rd, 1919 (the second and third waves), are classified according to age and sex.
| Age period | Second Wave (Oct. 5,1918—Jan. 25,1919) | Third Wave (Feb. 1—May 3, 1919) | Total Deaths | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M. | F. | M. | F. | M. | F. | |
| 0—1 | 12 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 18 | 7 |
| 1—2 | 6 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 14 |
| 2—5 | 24 | 18 | 3 | 3 | 27 | 21 |
| 5—10 | 27 | 13 | 2 | 5 | 29 | 18 |
| 10—15 | 13 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 20 |
| 15—25 | 45 | 65 | 7 | 10 | 52 | 75 |
| 25—35 | 53 | 98 | 18 | 35 | 71 | 133 |
| 35—45 | 40 | 37 | 19 | 14 | 59 | 51 |
| 45—55 | 33 | 24 | 19 | 11 | 52 | 35 |
| 55—65 | 31 | 13 | 22 | 15 | 53 | 28 |
| 65—75 | 23 | 17 | 12 | 11 | 35 | 28 |
| 75—85 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 13 | 6 |
| 85 and upwards | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 318 | 322 | 114 | 114 | 4S2 | 436 |
The table shows that the disease was most fatal amongst young adults, the
age period 25—35 furnishing the highest number of deaths. The mortality
at all ages amongst the sexes was equal, but at the ages 15 — 35 was higher
amongst females than males.