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
Paddington 1910
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Paddington, Metropolitan Borough of]
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scarlet fever. 17
| 1910. | 1909. | 1908. | 1907. | 1906. | 1905. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Houses from which notifications were received | 23 | 62 | 57 | 63 | 77 | 31 |
| 3 | „ „ „ | 9 | 26 | 30 | 21 | 23 | 6 |
| 4 | „ „ „ | 3 | 3 | 13 | 7 | 7 | 3 |
| 5 | „ „ „ | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 4 | — |
| 6 | „ „ „ | — | — | 1 | 2 | 2 | — |
| 7 | „ „ „ | — | — | 2 | 9 | 1 | — |
After elimination of the errors of diagnosis, the distribution of the multiple cases, as regards houses and families, was as given below, the corresponding figures for the previous year being shown in italic type :—
| No. of Cases | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| In houses, 1910 | 21 | 7 | 2 | 1 |
| „ „ 1909 | 59 | 22 | 3 | 1 |
| In families, 1910 | 22 | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| „ „ 1909 | 51 | 14 | 4 | — |
In nine instances the multiple cases were due to "return cases," and in three houses the
disease spread to a second family. From five houses (families) two cases were reported on
the same day, from two, three and from one, four. Three cases were reported on the same
day from a canal boat, in addition to the number given above.
Of the 258 cases notified, 247 were removed to hospital, including 26 cases erroneously
diagnosed. The cases removed constituted 95.7 per cent. of the whole, as compared with 96.1
per cent. in 1909 and an average of 92.4 per cent. during the five years 1905-09. (Table 14).
The fatality last year, after correcting for errors of diagnosis, was 3.0 per cent., 0.8 per
cent. higher than it was in the previous year and 0.9 above the average for the five years
1905-9. All the deaths recorded last year occurred in hospital. The nett mortality which
was 0.9 per 1,000 persons in 1909, fell to 0.04 last year, and was just half the mean rate for
the period 1905-09. In Marylebone alone was the nett mortality from this disease above that
recorded in the Borough (Table 10) and the same remark applies to the corrected rates (Table
15). There was no death from scarlet fever in Willesden last year.
TABLE 15. Corrected Mortality Rates. *
| District. | Diphtheria. | Scarlet Fever. | Enteric Fever. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard Rate. | Corrected Rate. | Standard Rate. | Corrected Rate. | Standard Rate. | Corrected Rate. | ||||
| 1910. | Mean. 1905-09. | 1910. | Mean. 1905-09. | 1910. | Mean. 1905-09. | ||||
| Paddington | 0.392 | 0.08 | 0.10 | 0.133 | 0.05 | 0.10 | 0.143 | 0.03 | 0.02 |
| London | 0.501 | 0.09 | 0.13 | 0.169 | 0.04 | 0.11 | 0.142 | 0.04 | 0.04 |
| Kensington | 0.364 | 0.12 | 0.13 | 0.124 | 0.01 | 0.08 | 0.140 | 0.03 | 0.04 |
| Westminster | 0.316 | 0.09 | 0.12 | 0.109 | 0.03 | 0.11 | 0.152 | 0.03 | 0.02 |
| Marylebone | 0.367 | 0.09 | 0.11 | 0.125 | 0.07 | 0.13 | 0.144 | 0.05 | 0.02 |
| Hampstead | 0.359 | 0.07 | 0.08 | 0.122 | 0.03 | 0.07 | 0.143 | 0.03 | 0.03 |
| Willesden | 0.558 | 0.06 | 0.08 | 0.188 | — | 0.07 | 0.142 | 0.01 | 0.03 |
* See footnote, p. 8.