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
Lambeth 1914
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Lambeth, Metropolitan Borough of]
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55
There is still a practical difficulty in securing proper home
isolation of the notified cases of whooping cough in view of the
generally held opinion that treatment in the open air is necessary.
Even the hospitals (out-patient departments) are accustomed to tell
parents and others to bring the whooping cough patients to the
hospitals for further inspection and treatment from week to week,
and this advice is acted upon in view of the fact that the parents
and others in charge are not in a financial position to call in medical
practitioners at the homes of the patients. The practical difficulty
of securing efficient home isolation in crowded districts and tenements
is well known.
Details of the incidences of measles and whooping cough in the different Registration Sub-Districts of Lambeth Borough during 1914 are as follow:—
| Registration Sub-Districts. | Number of Deaths from Whooping Cough. | No. of Deaths from Measles. | Whooping Cough Deaths per 10000 Inhabitants. | Mealses Deaths per 10000 Inhabitants. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lambeth Church | 17 | 9 | 3.7 | 1.9 |
| Kennington | 11 | 15 | 2.3 | 3.1 |
| Stockwell | 4 | 19 | 0.6 | 3.04 |
| Brixton | 10 | 0.6 | 1.3 | |
| Norwood | 3 | 5 | 0.5 | 0.8 |
CHOLERA AND PLAGUE.
In the Borough, during 1914, no case of plague, suspected or
otherwise, was notified, and no death from plague was registered.
No case of cholera was notified, and no death from cholera was
registered during 1914.
During the decennium 1901-10, no case of plague was notified
and no death from plague was registered, within the Borough, but,
during the same period, 2 cases of cholera were notified and 14 deaths
from cholera registered—all cases probably of epidemic diarrhœa
and cholera nostras or English cholera.
One suspected plague "contact" arrived from abroad (from India)
per S.S. "Persia," in the hold of which were found dead rats, which
proved on bacteriological examination to be suspicious of plague,
but, in connection therewith, no case of human plague developed.