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

Deptford 1919

Annual report on the health of the Metropolitan Borough of Deptford

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Table: Comparative table of infantile deaths from Diarrhœa and Enteritis. RATE PER 1000 BIRTHS

Comparative table of infantile deaths from Diarrhœa and Enteritis. RATE PER 1000 BIRTHS

Diarrhœa and Enteritis under two years.Total deaths under one year.
England and Wales9.5989
96 Great Towns12.2493
148 Smaller Towns8.6790
London16.2285
Deptford11.5885

Table: TABLE SHEWING HIE NUMBER OF BIRTHS AND DEATHS IN THE BOROUGH DURING THE YEAR 1919

TABLE SHEWING HIE NUMBER OF BIRTHS AND DEATHS IN THE BOROUGH DURING THE YEAR 1919

Births2426
Deaths —including those in outlying Public Institutions1469
Excess of Births over Deaths957

Table: I submit a list of the principal causes of the 207 infantile deaths in the Borough during 1919, viz. :—

I submit a list of the principal causes of the 207 infantile deaths in the Borough during 1919, viz. :—

Measles2
Tuberculosis3
Meningitis3
Influenza3
Bronchitis and Pneumonia58
Diarrhœal Diseases28
Enteritis and Diseases of Digestive System
Scarlet Fever1
Suffocation in bed with parents2
Congenital Malformation, Atelectasis, and Premature Birth80
Debility and Marasmus38
Other causes27
207

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Although Infantile Mortality for the whole of the Borough may
be this year considered very satisfactory, yet I still hope to see a further
reduction in one of our wards in particular.
In previous reports I have given the contributing causes of the
higher infantile death rate in the central district of the Borough, which
contains practically the whole of the East Ward, to which I particularly
refer. We found that the conditions associated with and assisting in
varying degree in the production of excessive infantile mortality were