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
Lewisham 1954
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Lewisham Borough]
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55
The following is a summary of the work in visiting infectious
diseases carried out during the year which is in addition to the visits
paid by the sanitary inspectors referred to in table 21:—
Table 40
| W | N | S | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visits | 602 | 397 | 637 | 1,636 |
| Futile visits | 391 | 213 | 375 | 979 |
| Revisits | 320 | 278 | 381 | 979 |
| Total | 1,313 | 888 | 1,393 | 3,594 |
Poliomyelitis
1954 was a mild year as far as the incidence of poliomyelitis was
concerned. Sixteen cases were confirmed and of these 4 were paralytic
and 12 non-paralytic. They were fairly well distributed over the
borough, 3 being in the west, 8 in the north, and 5 in the south divisions.
Eight were males and 8 females. Table 41 gives figures for this borough
over the last 8 years, the time during which the incidence has been
high.
Table 41
| Year (a) | Intimated to Dept. (b) | Removed to hospital (c) | Confirmed (d) | (d) as %age of (b) (e) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1947 | 176 | 172 | 76 | 43 |
| 8 | 26 | 25 | 9 | 35 |
| 9 | 83 | 79 | 41 | 49 |
| 1950 | 93 | 90 | 38 | 41 |
| 1 | 33 | 33 | 11 | 33 |
| 2 | 30 | 30 | 15 | 50 |
| 3 | 83 | 79 | 52 | 63 |
| 4 | 33 | 32 | 16 | 48 |
| TOTAL | 557 | 540 | 258 | 46 |
Dysentery, food poisoning, whooping cough
Notes on the incidence of these diseases are included in the
introduction to this report (page 4).