London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Kensington 1950
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
This page requires JavaScript
| Year | Measles notifications. |
|---|---|
| 1939 | 31 |
| 19140 | 242 |
| 1941 | 366 |
| 1942 | 365 |
| 1943 | 624 |
| 1944 | 102 |
| 1945 | 868 |
| 1946 | 264 |
| 1947 | 852 |
| 1948 | 868 |
| 1949 | 740 |
| 1950 | 696 |
| 1951 | 1,196 (up to 31st May) |
The total number of cases notified during the period
1st October, 1950, to the 31st May, 1951, was 1,442; there
was only one death. This is in marked contrast with the
former case mortality of between 1.4% and 4% which obtained
in the earlier decades of the present century. Deaths in
England and Wales from measles within the past century
have fallen as follows
Year
England and Wales
Total deaths from measles
1855 7,351
1870 7,543
1885 1,495
1900 12,710
1915 16,445
1930 1,188
1948 326
It is the more remarkable when one realises that in
measles there is no known preventive and no specific cure.
Even allowing for ecological variation between the causative
virus and human susceptibility, it is reasonable to assume
that much of the reduction in mortality is due to
improvements in environment and personal health which have
resulted from general public health measures and from
measures especially directed to child welfare, such as the
Maternity and Child Welfare Act, 1918.