London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Deptford 1919

Annual report on the health of the Metropolitan Borough of Deptford

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36
INFECTIOUS AND OTHER DISEASES.
The list of notifiable infectious diseases has been extended and
now includes the following diseases, viz. : —Scarlet Fever, Diphtheria,
Erysipelas, Enteric Fever, Puerperal Fever, Cerebro-Spinal Fever,
Measles, German Measles, Pulmonary Tuberculosis, other Tuberculous
Diseases, Smallpox, Ophthalmia Neonatorum, Poliomyelitis, Anthrax,
Primary Pneumonia, Influenzal Pneumonia. Malaria, Dysentery,
Trench Fever, Encephalitis lethargica and Polio-Encephalitis.
Notifiable Infectious Diseases. Under the provisions of
Public Health (London) Act, 1881, and the Tuberculosis Regulations,
3,087 notifications of cases of infectious diseases were received, as
compared with 1,756 in 1918. This increase is chiefly due to greater
prevalence of Scarlet Fever and Measles.
Deaths from Epidemic Diseases. To the seven principal
epidemic diseases (Small-pox, Measles, Scarlet Fever, Diphtheria,
Whooping Cough, Enteric Fever, Diarrhœa Diseases) 82 deaths were
ascribed, and the death-rate from them was 0.7 per 1,000 of the
estimated civilian population, as against 1.08 per 1,000 in the preceding
year. A summary of the deaths from epidemic diseases will be found
in Table 2, and a list of the cases notified in Table 4.
Small-Pox.
It is satisfactory to note that no case of Small-pox was notified
during the year. No deaths have occurred from this complaint in the
Borough since 1902, in which year there were 30 deaths out of a total
of 139 cases; in the next year only two cases were notified with no
deaths. In 1918 one case was notified which ended in recovery.

Scarlet Fever.

1919Average of Previous 10 years
Number of cases517584
„ deaths99
1,000 in Deptford0.080.07

541 notifications were received during the year 1919, relating to
517 cases. Of these, 124 cases were errors in diagnosis and cases
which occurred in hospital, thus reducing the net number of cases to
505.
The number of cases for 1919 was in excess of that in the previous
year.